Graduate Program in Neuroscience

Administrative Committees

Committees address various student, program, and school activities and issues. Elections for these positions happen annually during summer quarter.

Admissions Committee

The Admissions Committee screens student applications and organizes activities for prospective students during the virtual interviews as part of the admissions process.

Faculty Members

Sam Golden (Co-Chair)
Abbie Schindler (Co-Chair)
Nathan Baertsch
Wyeth Bair
Michael Bruchas
Erik Carlson
Martin Darvis
Angela Fang
Susan Ferguson
Yijie Geng
Anna Gillepsie
Matt Golub
Mitra Heshmati
Jay Neitz
Maureen Neitz
John Neumaier
Amy Orsborn
Steve Perlmutter
Jeff Riffell
Kyobi Skutt-Kakaria
Stephen Smith
William Spain
Garret Stuber
Kurt Weaver

Student Members (Recruitment Committee)

Duration and eligibility: Minimum two years, second year and continuing students.
What is involved: Work with faculty and staff to recruit students, including attending information sessions, responding to applicants, and allowing GPA to share email address to potential applicants. Organizes and leads activities for prospective students during their visit to campus.
Members are offered the opportunity to review applications.

Randall Eck
Lydia Gordon-Fennell
Gillian Grennan
Anna Li 
Makenzie Patarino
Ellen Streitwieser 

Alumni Members

Anna Bowen

Curriculum Committee

The Curriculum Committee works to ensure that the GPN’s core courses and elective courses provide students with an education in neuroscience that is both broad and rigorous.

Faculty Members

Fred Rieke (Chair)
Jeff Rasmussen

Student Members

Duration and eligibility: Minimum one year, second year and continuing students.
What is involved: Membership, attendance, and participation in quarterly meetings along with faculty, and staff. Serve as liaison to the student body by providing input around initiatives and reporting back to students.

Alex Garcia Arango
Sujin Byeon
Ilse Dippenaar
Elena Judd
Belle Liu
Makenzie Patarino
Ekayana Sethi

Diversity Committee

The Diversity Committee works to ensure a diverse and inclusive group of students and to promote the success of students from under-represented backgrounds in the GPN. Click here to learn more about the UW’s commitment to diversity.

Faculty Members

Sheri Mizumori  (Chair)
Andres Barria
Abigail Schindler
Azadeh Yazdan-shahmorad
Gabriel Cler
Oliver Rollins

Student Members

Duration and eligibility: Minimum one year, all students.
What is involved: Attend diversity committee meetings and serve as liaison to the student body by providing input around program and initiatives.

Mar Borrego
Katie Green
Gillian Grennan
Rohit Kamath
Deja Machen
Saghar Mirbagheri
Wendy Piñon-Teal
Larissa Robinson-Cooper
German Rojas
Princess Tarabishi

Events Committee

The Events Committee works with program staff to plan and promote events for the program.

Faculty Members

Melissa Barker-Haliski (Chair)
Nikolai Dembrow
Mehmet Kurt
Azadeh Yazdan-Shahmorad

Student Members

Duration and eligibility: Minimum one year, all students.
What is involved: Attend committee meetings and work closely with program staff to plan promote community engagement in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience.

Jianqiao Hu
Alexander Ladd
Sarah Pugliese
Larissa Robinson-Cooper
Sheridan Sargent
Gabby Shvartsman
Monica Tschang

Interdisciplinary Faculty Group

This committee advises the program directors on all aspects of the operation of the GPN.

See the list of members on the Graduate School page.

Seminar Committee

The Seminar Committee solicits nominations of potential seminar speakers from students and faculty, invites chosen speakers, identifies student and faculty hosts and arranges the schedule for visiting speakers.

Faculty Members

Paul Phillips (Chair)

Student Members

Duration and eligibility: Minimum one year, all students.
What is involved: Attend Seminar committee meetings and serve as liaison to the seminar speakers when in town.

Gillian Grennan
Lawrence Hu
Sarah Pugliese
Monica Tschang

Steering Committee

The Steering Committee is comprised of the Chairs of the Departments of Biological Structure, Biology, Physiology & Biophysics, and Psychology, or their representatives. This committee provides oversight, guidance, support and assists in the nomination of co-directors.

Faculty Members

  • Elizabeth Buffalo, Professor, Department of Physiology & Biophysics
  • Maureen Neitz, Professor, Department of Ophthalmology
  • David J. Perkel, Professor, Department of Biology and Department of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery
  • Steve Perlmutter, Research Professor, Department of Physiology & Biophysics
  • Joseph A. Sisneros, Professor, Department of Psychology
  • Rachel O. Wong, Professor, Department of Biological Structure

Student Advancement Committee

The Student Advancement Committee advises students in their first year and monitors the progress of all the student in the program.

Faculty Members

Jane Sullivan (Chair)
Susan Ferguson
Franck Kalume
Fred Rieke
Aakanksha Singhvi

Student Representation Committee

The Student Representation Committee (SRC) helps maintain effective communication between the GPN faculty, directors, staff, and students. SRC helps organize the new student orientation, oversight of the Student Handbook and is a forum for discussion of non-academic student concerns.

Student Members

Duration and eligibility: Minimum one year, any students.
What is involved: Help organize and initiate GPN events. Attend weekly meetings with leadership and prepare agendas for these meetings. Serve as liaison to the student body by providing input around initiatives and reporting back to students. Oversee and serve as a resource for high concern programmatic communication.

  • Rohit Kamath
  • Lila Levinson
  • Saghar Mirbagheri
  • Sheridan Sargent
  • Scott Sterrett