PEOPLE | kaunlab

Lab Head
Associate Professor
Dept. Neuroscience

401-863-5825
karla_kaun@brown.edu
Office: Rm 362, 185 Meeting St.

Lab Manager

401-863-5832
reza_azanchi@brown.edu

Adjunct Assistant Professor,
Department of Neuroscience

I'm an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at Bryant University, and collaborate with the Kaun Lab to understand how mushroom body circuits function during acquisition and expression of appetitive memories for alcohol.

kristin_scaplen@brown.edu

Graduate Student
Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology Graduate Program

I'm interested in understanding the behavioral intricacies of motivated response in Drosophila and investigating how opiates change these responses.

jamie_catalano@brown.edu

Research Assistant
Department of Neuroscience

I'm investigating how alcohol regulates Notch signaling, and how this affects dopamine receptor localization.

amanda_waterman@brown.edu

Graduate Student
Neuroscience Graduate Program

I'm interested in how splicing of the dopamine 2 receptor affects circuit dynamics during appetitive behavioral responses.

tariq_brown@brown.edu

Graduate Student
Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology Graduate Program

I'm interested in how changes in internal state affect alcohol memory through neuromodulation.

kavin_nunez@brown.edu

Postdoctoral Associate
Department of Neuroscience

I'm investigating neural and molecular mechanisms of alcohol withdrawal using a new Drosophila model that recapitulates a behavioral alcohol deprivation effect.

natalie_dsilva@brown.edu

Graduate Student
Neuroscience Graduate Program

I'm interested in understanding whether alcohol contributes to Alzheimer's Disease through the highly conserved cell-signaling Notch pathway.

katie_mccullar1@brown.edu

Graduate Student
Pathobiology Graduate Program
Co-Supervisor: Dr. Marc Tatar, Dept. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

I'm investigating how tau regulates neurodegeneration and behavior in Drosophila.

jacqueline_howells@brown.edu

Postdoctoral Associate
Department of Neuroscience

I'm developing methods to test operant responses to volatilized drugs of abuse in Drosophila.

john_hernandez@brown.edu

Undergraduate Independent Studies Student
Neuroscience Major

I'm investigating how Notch affects anatomical neurodegenerative phenotypes in the adult brain.

mariel_magdits@brown.edu

Undergraduate Student
Neuroscience Concentration

I'm investigating the microbehaviors associated with escalation of alcohol self-administration.

eve_glenn@brown.edu

Undergraduate Student
Middle East Studies Concentration

I'm investigating microbehaviors associated with the inability to form appetitive responses to alcohol in scabrous mutants.

mara_kessler@brown.edu

Undergraduate Honors Candidate
Neuroscience Concentration

I'm investigating the microbehaviors influenced by manipulating mushroom body microcircuits associated with reward responses.

vaishnavi_sankar@brown.edu

Undergraduate Student
Behavior Genetics Concentration

I'm investigating how splicing of transcription factor Stat92E affects acute ethanol-induced behavior.

raffee_wright@brown.edu

We are always looking for enthusiastic postdocs, students and technicians who enjoy collaborating in a scientifically and culturally diverse environment.

Please contact Dr. Kaun if you're interested!

LAB ALUMNI

POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATES

Emily Petruccelli: Kaun Lab, Dept Neuroscience, 2016-18 (Assistant Professor, Dept. Biology, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

Edward Anderson: Kaun Lab, Dept Neuroscience, 2017 (University of North Carolina Catalyst for Rare Disease Postdoctoral Research Associate)

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Nicholas Mei: MSc Brown University Neuroscience Graduate Program, 2014-17 (Software Engineer Allen Institute for Brain Science)

Sarah Salamon: MSc University of Cologne, 2017 (PhD Candidate, University of Cologne)

POSTBACCALAUREATE STUDENTS

Yanabah Jaques (Cognitive Neuroscience 2016-18, PREP 2018-19 (Graduate School in Neuroscience, University of California Berkeley)

Nishell Savory: PREP 2016-17 (Research Technician, Water Reed Army Medical Center)

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Honors Thesis:

Sophia Song: Neuroscience, Brown University 2016-19 (Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University)

Sydney Gang: Neuroscience, Brown University 2017-19 (Research Assistant, Dana Farber Institute)

Ryan Cohen: Biology, Brown University 2017-19 (Continuing Education in Computer Science, Columbia University)

Nicolas Ledru: Biology, Brown University 2014-16 (Medical Scientist Training Program, Washington University)

Rachel Muster: Neuroscience, Brown University 2014-16 (Medical School, University of California San Francisco)

Independent Study

Tyler Blackwater: Brown University 2016-19

Fahim Mahmud: Brown University 2017-18

Karen Gutierrez: Brown University 2016-17 (Medical Science Teacher, Alliance College-Ready Public Schools)

Gina Chieffallo: Brown University 2016-17

Hayley Bounds: Brown University 2014-15 (Graduate School in Neuroscience, University of California Berkeley)

Edward Lee: Brown University 2014 (Medical School, Loma Linda University)

Summer Students:

Jaclyn Dell: University of South Florida, St. Petersburg 2016 (Graduate School in Clinical Psychology, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg)

Samantha Huynh: Brown University 2015

Sophie Yan: Brown University 2015

Alex Chen: New York University 2014 (Graduate School in Neuroscience, University of Michigan)

RESEARCH TECHNICIANS

Michael Feyder: Biochemist research assistant 2014-17 (Graduate School in Biochemistry, University of Massachusetts Medical School)

The KAUN Lab

LAB ALUMNI

Mara Kesller