Student Profiles
Grant Storey
I joined the PBio department as a graduate department in 2005. I work in the lab of Dr. Andres Barria. In the Barria lab, my work uses molecular and cellular techniques, along with advanced imaging and electrophysiology to better elucidate the molecular mechanisms that control a development switch in the NMDA type glutamate receptors. NMDA receptors are critical for controlling the activity-dependent processes that lead to the formation, refinement, and changes in strength of individual excitatory synapses in the brain. The ability for brain cells to alter their individual connections due to experience and in times of development is thought to be one of the cellular bases for learning and memory. I came to the Pbio department after graduating from the University of California, San Diego, where I majored in animal physiology and neuroscience. I also did a bit of undergraduate research studying electroreception in elasmobranch fishes (sharks, skates, and rays) in the lab of Dr. Ad Kalmijn at The Scripps Institution of Oceanography. I was drawn to the Pbio department and Seattle for several reasons. First, the faculty of this department is unmatched. They are truly world class scientists. I also find them to be accessible, curious, and eager to train the next generation. Secondly, Seattle is an excellent place to be if you are an adventurer. There are countless places to visit and discover whether you are into trying different types of food, going out to local hangouts, sampling different cultures, or exploring the natural beauty of the Northwest. I am truly excited about what I do and the person that I have become during my time here. The balance between world-class scientific training and ultimate adventure is one of a kind.
Ryan Eaton
Reading the profiles of my senior classmates, I prefer those that convey personality. I, myself, am of the "just-the-facts-ma'am" mentality so I describe myself here accordingly. I grew up in a small town in northern California and studied physics at UC Davis. Lack of opportunity in the high-energy physics field and my increasing fascination with information processing in neurobiology motivated my shift to neuroscience, having convinced myself (naïvely) my background in physics would be an asset. For the next three years I toiled as a research assistant at Oregon Health and Science University using transcranial magnetic stimulation to evaluate disease progression in patients with movement disorders (Parkinson's disease, essential tremor and ALS). Through research assistantship I gained skills and patience to carry out experiments, but I longed for more theory and wanted to design experiments to address my own inquiries. Graduate school was in the cards for me.
I researched many neuroscience graduate programs and the Department of Physiology & Biophysics (PBio) at the University of Washington stood out among the lot. The diversity and caliber of research described in the faculty profiles impressed me most of all. Within a few minutes of digging I had already found several labs researching topics overlapping my somewhat scattered interest in neuroscience. My interview experience only strengthened my impression: faculty and students were enthusiastic and welcoming, I met four of the seven of my incoming class that weekend and many of us became good friends. Coursework proved both challenging and relevant. I rotated through labs of Fetz (explored attractor dynamics in neural network models of short term memory), Binder (compared white noise-elicited firing patterns of a cortical neuron and a simplified model) and Jagadeesh (tested the role of perceptual masks in object recognition). In their second year, most PBio students serve as TAs in a two-quarter general physiology course for dental and nursing students. While I dreaded the prospect of leading discussion sessions, I learned a great deal of physiology and became more confident through the experience.
At the end of my first year, Eb Fetz graciously took me on as his student. My project investigates recruitment of muscle-related, and pre-motoneuronal, cortical neurons during muscle contraction. In conjunction, we stimulate the medial forebrain bundle--a pathway intimately involved in reward-related behaviors---to reinforce cortical- and muscle-activity operants in the freely-behaving primate. These days I work alongside four post- and two other pre-doctoral fellows; my research has benefited from the talents and insights of each. Opportunities to meet visiting scientists, participate in department committees and present findings at scientific conferences are but a few of the benefits enjoyed by PBio graduate students.
Contrary to whatever impression the above may have formed, there is more to life than one's career. To appease my creative urges (and to blow off steam) I play drums in a rock band (my second since moving to Seattle). Seattle is a great place to go running in the summer months and it is never hard to find fun things to do.
Yanping Huang
I joined the PBio department in 2007. I grew up in a small town in southern China. After finishing my bachelor degree in Physics, I attended the complex-systems summer school held by the Santa Fe Institute, where I carried out a team project regarding the aging of hearing systems, with a professor in Neuroscience and graduate students in Electrical Engineering. Through this summer school, I was fortunate both to be able to participate in my first research on neural systems, and also to gain a sense of multidiscipline cooperation and communication. It was wonderful experience and I was also convinced that I wanted to continue to study and do research in this field. I researched many neurosciences programs and I believed PBio is the right place for me because of its renowned reputation and interdisciplinary nature.
During my first year, I rotated in labs of Fairhall(information based clustering in single neuron), Perkel ( parameter estimation in bird song learning system), Shea-brown (Applied Math faculty, application of control theory in neuroscience), and Rao (Computer Science and Engineering faculty, dynamic stimuli and Bayesian inference in hippocampus CA1 place cells). Thanks to PBio department, I am able to study and research the neural system from diverse points of view.
PBio department is a small one. People here are welcoming and quite nice. It is the Department that truly cares about its students. As an international student, I don’t have any relatives in US, but I just feel that our department is like a family.
Sarah Domnitz
I joined the PBio department as a graduate student in 2004. I grew up in Boston, MA and went to college at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I majored in Biopsychology and worked in a lab doing behavioral research. After college I moved back to Boston and did molecular biology in an Alzheimer disease research lab at Massachusetts General Hospital for 3 years. During this time I learned a lot about diseased cells, but I felt I didn't have a solid background in the biology of a normal cell. So I decided to look for a graduate program that would help me fill this gap in my knowledge. Since I had already lived on the east coast and the in midwest, I wanted to move to the west coast. I knew UW PBio was the right graduate program for me because it had labs studying a broad range of topics and techniques. Being at a big university with a variety of research going on has allowed me to focus on my own field of research while keeping up on other fields that I don't get to work on in the lab. I am also working towards a certificate in the Molecular Medicine Training Program so I can continue following my interest in medicine. In addition, being located in Seattle allows me to easily escape the city to pursue my outdoor hobbies such as skiing and hiking.
Meg Hamner
I have lived in the Northwest since I was a kid, and I am a huge fan of the clean air, nice people, the occasional bit of rain, and the fact that there is always a latte stand when you need one. I currently work in the Ransom lab. Our lab is focused on understanding the cellular and molecular pathophysiology of ischemic brain tissue injury in the white matter areas of the brain.
I attended the UW as an undergraduate with every intention of going to medical school. While I’m glad to say that I achieved that goal, it is not in the capacity that I originally intended. I started out wanting to become a physician. I worked hard as an undergrad and earned two bachelor’s degrees with honors: one in neurobiology and the other in philosophy. I worked in two different labs as an undergrad, and worked my way up from dish washer to first author on a publication. Science has always come easy for me, and was what motivated me to pursue a career in medicine. However, the closer I came to graduation, the more people questioned my blind pursuit of a medical degree – even the medical school admission’s boards during my interviews, particularly when I went in there saying I wanted to be a “physician scientist.” I finally realized that it was the science that made me light up – it was thing I never tired of doing, and still don’t.
I changed my focus, took the GRE, and applied to graduate programs which were a much better fit. I really enjoy designing experiments and coming up with questions to ask that no one else has thought of before. And it’s even better when you get to find the answer!
I won’t tell you that I’ve never had a bad day in grad school, because my fellow students would know I was lying, but despite everything I’ve never lost that desire to know. It is that desire, as well as the support of a really great advisor, and the PBIO faculty and staff that have made all the difference for me.
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