Lab Alumni

Faculty & Postdoc Alumni

Sonia Villapol, PhD

(2014-2018)

Sonia was a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Neuroscience during her time at Georgetown. She is an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at Houston Methodist, and is doing amazing research in her BRAIN-LAB!

Simone Romariz Bertola, PhD

(2018-2019)

Simone is a postdoctoral fellow at the Paulista School of Medicine/Federal University of São Paulo (EPM, UNIFESP), Brazil. Simone worked in our lab for one year to learn TBI techniques that she has brought back to establish in Brazil. 

PhD Alumni

Daniel Chapman, MD/PhD

(2019-2023)

Daniel earned his PhD in 2023 for her thesis titled From Neurons to Behavior: A Path Towards Brain Stimulation as a Treatment for Repetitive Head Impact. Daniel was a Neural Injury and Plasticity fellow while a graduate student in Georgetown’s Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, and he was also awarded a presitgous F30 fellowship from the NIH. After completing medical school in 2025, Daniel went into Neurology Residency and Ceder Sinai in Los Angeles.  

Holly Korthas, PhD

(2017-2022)

Holly earned her PhD in 2022 for her thesis titled The Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury on Sleep and Circadian Rhythms. Holly was awarded a Neural Injury and Plasticity fellowship while a graduate student in Georgetown’s Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience. After graduation, Holly moved on to postdoctroal research at the University of Minnesota. 

Stephanie Sloley, PhD

(2015-2020)

Steph earned her PhD in 2020 for her thesis titled Changes in Hippocampal Synaptic Plasticity Following Exposure to High Frequency Head Impacts (HF-HI). While a graduate student in Georgetown’s Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, Steph was awarded a Neural Injury and Plasticity fellowship and numerous other awards. After graduation, Steph moved to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center as a Research Program Analyst.

Charisse Winston, PhD

(2010-2015)

Charisse earned her PhD in 2015 for her thesis titled Neuronal remodeling and genetic vulnerability after mild traumatic brain injury. Charisse was awarded a Neural Injury and Plasticity (NIP) fellowships while at Georgetown University. While a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California San Diego, Charisse was awarded a prestigious K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the NIH for her work in Alzheimer’s disease. She is currently a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California.  

Patricia Washington-Walker, PhD

(2008-2013)

Patty earned her Ph.D.  in 2013 for her thesis titled Production, Accumulation and Clearance of Amyloid-Beta after Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury. Patty went on postdoctoral trauma research at Vanderbilt University and Columbia University. 

Masters Students

• Megan Trageser (2025/2026) MS in Integrative Neuroscience

• Abby St. Jean (2025/2026) MS in Integrative Neuroscience

• Caroline Dubois-Weber (2024/2025) MS in Integrative Neuroscience

• Gemma Haney (2024/2025) MS in Integrative Neuroscience

• Dhwani Gondalia (2023/2024) MS in Integrative Neuroscience

• Ala Mokbel (2023/2024) MS in Integrative Neuroscience

• Molly O'Brien (2023/2024) MS in Integrative Neuroscience

• Caroline Green (2021/2022) MS in Integrative Neuroscience

• Zac Colon (2020/2021) MS in Integrative Neuroscience

• Ruchelle Buenaventura (2019/2020) MS in Integrative Neuroscience

• Matthew Kanter (2018/2019) MS in Integrative Neuroscience

• Faisal Attiah (2018/2019) MS in Integrative Neuroscience

• Sarah Seeherman (2017/2018) MS in Integrative Neuroscience

• Alex Harvey (2018) MS in Biochemistry and Molecular BIology

Thesis Undergraduates

• David Barton - Dave graduated with a B.S. in Human Science in 2013. His senior thesis, Traumatic Brain Injury: targeting blood-brain barrier breakdown via an apoE-dependent pathway was awarded the Excellence in Human Science Award from the Human Science Department. He has since earned his MD from Penn State.

• Kathryn Stefos - Kathryn graduated with a B.S. in Biology in 2015. Her senior thesis was titled Exploring the association of apolipoprotein E with blood-brain-barrier permeability following traumatic brain injury. She has since earned her MD from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. 

• Aidan Neustadtl - Aidan graduated with a BS in biology in 2016. His senior thesis was titled Pharmacological inhibition of calcineurin reverses excitatory synapse loss in ApoE4 mice. He has since earned his MD from Georgetown University medical school. 

Technicians

• Gemma Haney (2025 - 

• Dhwani Gondalia (2024 -

• Ruchelle Buenaventura (2021-2024)

• Alex Harvey (2018-2021)

• Maia Parsadanian (2011-2016)

• Nicholas Morffy (2011-2012) 

• Lilit Vardanian (2004-2006) 

Rotating PhD Students

The PhD students who rotate through the lab stay for an intensive 3 month period, and their work is often the catalyst for bigger projects down the road:

• James Donohue (2025)

• Celine Ertekin (2025)

• Caroline Francescutti (2025)

• Zac Colon (2022)

• Max Stevenson (2019)

• Phil Gross (2018)

• Laya Rajan (2017)

• Andrew Speidell (2017)

• Mondona McCann (2017)

• Nahdia Jones (2017)

• Evan Wicker (2016)

• Chinyere Agbaegbu (2014)

• Brittany Aguilar (2013)

• Amanda DiBatitsta (2011)

• Misha Smirnov (2009)

Medical Students

• Nicole Lulevitch (2016)

• Addison Jacobs (2016, 2017)

• Arjun Pendharker (2010)

Undergraduate Students

Thank you to all of the undergraduates who have worked in my lab over the years. They volunteer their time, and make a tremendous difference to our research:

• Jordan Su (2025 - 

• Omar Sbiah (2023- 

• Miles Morlock (2023-2025)

• Olivia Silveri (2018-2021)

• Alexandra Montgomery (2018, 2019)

• Claudia Cardona (2018, 2019)

• Loni Parrish (2017)

• Cristofer Cardona (2016, 2017)

• Alexa Williams (2017)

• Luke Djavaherian (2017)

• William Mualem (2016 - 2017)

• Jeevan Nijhar (2016)

• Kyle Jenkins (2014)

• Andrew Alikhani (2012)

• Tiffany Wilkins (2011)

• Deepa Chellappa (2011)

• Rachel Thompson (2008)

High School Students

Thank you to all of the high school students who have worked in my lab. Their research projects have been outstanding, and they have won awards for their research. 

• Daisy Navarro (2022)

• Ashley Wilson (2021)

• Sabry Latifi (2011)