Dr. Meike van der Heijden was born and raised in the Netherlands and obtained her BS in Psychobiology at the University of Amsterdam. What should have been a five-month bachelor thesis project at Baylor College of Medicine, became a twelve year science journey in Houston, Texas. In these years, she worked as a technician with Dr. Benjamin Frankfort, obtained her PhD in neuroscience at BCM with Dr. Huda Zoghbi, and completed her postdoc studying the cerebellum with Dr. Roy Sillitoe.

Meike believes that the joy for learning and discovery are central in the lab. She continues to be inspired by the cerebellum’s ability to learn and to help us balance our bodies, and the many neural functions we perform on a daily basis.

Alyssa Lyon is a graduate student in the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health (TBMH) program. She is from Orange County, VA, and obtained her B.S. in Neuroscience from George Mason University. At Mason, she completed research focusing on neurodevelopment in zebrafish embryos and sleep genetics in fruit flies. 

Kristen is a graduate student in the Virginia Tech School of Neuroscience. She graduated in May 2024 from the University of Akron with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Biology. Her previous work was done at Northeast Ohio Medical School where whe studied the role of Neuropeptide Y in age-related hearing loss and Summa Health where she studied epilepsy in zebrafish models. Kristen is interested in the neuroscience of health and disease.

May Kretzer is a graduate student in the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health program. She received a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from Virginia Tech, where she worked on research about the benefits of music therapy for dementia as well as research on attentional learning in mice. She is interested in neurodevelopment, learning & memory, and psychiatric disorders.

JC graduated from Virginia Tech in May 2024 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Clinical Neuroscience. During his time at Virginia Tech, he worked as a Teaching Assistant for the departments of Neuroscience, Chemistry, and Biochemistry. His prior research focused on how man-made materials are suspected to disrupt thyroid hormone signaling in brain development. He finds inspiration through striving for his goals, and he hopes to continue his education in medical school in the future.

Annie Walls is a VT undergraduate in Experimental Neuroscience from central Maryland. Her prior research experiences studied the synaptic action of cocaine and targets for focused ultrasound in chronic pain treatment, and her interests very much lie in understanding the neural underpinnings of psychiatric disorders. She enjoys molecular/behavioral work and hopes to continue with similar graduate research in the field of neuroscience.

Viviana Hernández is a postdoctoral researcher, where she investigates the neural mechanisms underlying dystonia using computational approaches. Her research integrates high-density EEG recordings, signal processing and machine-learning techniques to identify electrophysiological biomarkers that precede symptom manifestation in genetic mouse model. She previously trained in computational neuroscience and methods development, with a PhD focused on developing optimized  algorithms for brain source localization from S(EEG) signals during frequency-tagging paradigms. She aims to develop quantitative approaches that improve diagnosis and understanding of neurological disorders. 

Austin Fitzgerald is a medical student at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. She was born and raised in Charlotte, NC and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago with a BA in Anthropology with Honors distinction and a minor in Biological Sciences. She spent her two gap years working at a Value-Based primary care clinic on the south side of Chicago for adults on Medicare. Her prior research experiences range from clinical research exploring decreased recurrence of ovarian cancer with laparoscopic intervention to anthropological research investigating the ways in which US health insurance limits patient agency, autonomy, and healing, particularly when seeking therapies beyond the limitations of Western biomedicine. Her primary research under Dr. Dana Suskind with the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health focused on developing and launching an evidence-based intervention to improve early childhood cognitive development for underprivileged children. She is excited to broaden her knowledge base in neurological disorders and basic and translational research to be an informed resource for her future patients and provide them with the best possible care. 

Jack Fernandez is from Batavia, Illinois and is an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech’s School of Neuroscience. He has spent the last couple years working in a neurological physical and occupational therapy clinic where he developed a strong passion for understanding neuroscience. Jack has drawn inspiration from his past patient interactions to pursue a career in medicine and to help further our understanding in the field of neuroscience.

Ethan Bongiovanni is a VT undergraduate student (Class of 2028) in Clinical Neuroscience from Linwood, New Jersey. He has prior experience as a patient care technician in a hospital med-surg unit and as a volunteer with hospice at neurological care facilities. Through these clinical experiences, Ethan has developed a passion for healthcare and understanding the neural basis of degenerative disorders. He is interested in translational research and hopes to pursue a career in medicine that integrates neurological research with direct patient interaction.

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