Kyle Smith, Ph.D.
Kyle holds a B.A. in Psychology (and a certificate in Business Management!) from Indiana University, and an M.S., and Ph.D. in Psychology (Biopsychology) from The University of Michigan. His doctoral research was conducted with Dr. Kent Berridge (lab), as well as with Dr. J. Wayne Aldridge. He conducted his postdoctoral research with Dr. Ann Graybiel (lab) at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at M.I.T.
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS
Jon Cavanaugh, Ph.D.
Jon completed his undergraduate studies at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, where he earned degrees in Psychology (B.A.) and Biology (B.A.). He then moved on to the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he completed his Masters and Doctorate in Neuroscience and Behavior in the lab of Jeffrey French. Jon’s research aims to identify fundamental neurobiological substrates that regulate the formation and preservation of quality social relationships across the lifespan, as well as how these circuits regulate motivation for social rewards. Learning how these neuronal ensembles regulate social motivation and decision-making will inform the design and application of selective therapeutics for neuropsychiatric disorders that include maladaptive social functioning (e.g., autism, anxiety, depression). Moreover, a greater understanding of the neurological functioning of reward-seeking behavior will provide clarity on the efficacy of non-pharmaceutical, community-based interventions in the prevention and treatment of substance-abuse disorders. E-mail: Jon.Cavanaugh@dartmouth.edu
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Erica Townsend, B.S. Erica graduated magna cum laude from Virginia Tech in 2020 with degrees in Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience (B.S.) and in Psychology (B.S.). While at Virginia Tech, she studied the neurogenetics of language production disorders and their resulting early-life behaviors in the lab of Dr. J. Michael Bowers, as well as the role of hippocampal interneurons in pyramidal place cell tuning and spatial navigation in the lab of Dr. Daniel English. Her current research explores the contributions of the nucleus accumbens microcircuitry on cue-driven motivation and the flexibility of sign-tracking behaviors in dynamic environments using pharmacology and fiber photometry.
click to view Erica’s CV/website
E-mail: erica.s.townsend.gr@dartmouth.edu
Elizabeth Bien, B.S. Elizabeth graduated in 2014 from Binghamton University with a B.S. in Integrated Molecular Neuroscience and a minor in Chinese language. She studied the role that natural variations of maternal care played on female offspring behavior and on alcohol abuse. From 2014-2016, she worked in the Advanced Tissue Resource Core as a research technician at Massachusetts General Hospital with Charles Vanderburg where she studied neurodegenerative diseases. From 2016-2018, she worked as a research assistant in Steve McCarroll’s lab at Harvard Medical School where she used Drop-Seq to help confirm the existence of novel cell types in mice and evolutionary changes in cell types. Her current research interest focuses on the role of the insular cortex in outcome devaluation behavior and on sex differences in behavioral flexibility.
Stuti Agrawal, B.S. Stuti graduated in 2021 from the University of California Irvine (UCI) with a B.S. in Neurobiology and a minor in Business Management. While at UCI, she studied how different cardiac arrest etiologies lead to differences in peripheral perfusion and neurological outcome post-resuscitation in the lab of Dr. Yama Akbari, as well as the anterior cingulate cortex’s role in reward-seeking and effortful decision-making in the lab of Dr. Sean Ostlund. Her current research interests focus on characterizing the function of the nucleus accumbens – ventral pallidum pathway in regulating social and nonsocial motivation.
UNDERGRADUATES
Catherine Nemeskal
Isabella Sha
Angela Shang
ALUMNI
Silvia V. Navarro, Ph.D. – Postdoctoral Fellow
Kenny Amaya, Ph.D. – Graduate Student
Elizabeth Smedley, Ph.D. – Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Fellow
Jeffrey Stott, Ph.D. – Postdoctoral Fellow
Adam Crego, Ph.D. – Graduate Student
Steve Chang, Ph.D. – Postdoctoral Fellow
Kate Stansfield – research assistant and lab manager
Alyssa DiLeo – research assistant and lab manager
Alex Brown – research assistant and lab manager
Mugisha Nitunga – research assistant and lab manager
Constance Tazelaar – research assistant and lab manager
Marco Liera – research assistant and lab manager