Team

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Mark received his bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Michigan-Dearborn in 2009 and his doctorate in Psychology and Neuroscience from the systems and integrative neuroscience program at Duke University in 2015 in the lab of Henry Yin where he used in vivo electrophysiology and optogenetics to study how the basal ganglia regulate motivated behavior. He completed his postdoctoral training in neurobiology with Garret Stuber at the University of North Carolina and the University of Washington in 2021 where he used deep brain two-photon calcium imaging, slice electrophysiology, and single-cell sequencing to investigate how lateral hypothalamic circuits guide feeding and obesity.

Postdoc

Kuldeep is interested in understanding the role of subcortical circuitry in normal and pathological feeding. He received a Master’s degree in Neuroscience from Jiwaji University in India (2013) then worked as research assistant in the Yoganarasimha Lab at National Brain Research Centre in India until 2016. He earned a PhD from the University of Haifa in Mouna Maroun’s lab in 2021 where he investigated age-dependent effects of acute high-fat diet on plasticity in corticolimbic circuits and neuromodulatory roles of glucocorticoids and oxytocin. Kuldeep joined the Rossi lab in 2022 to study the involvement of the lateral hypothalamus and associated brain circuitry in feeding and obesity.

Postdoc

Jorge received his Bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry from UNAM Mexico. He then completed his Master’s and PhD in neurobiology of appetite at CINVESTAV in the laboratory of Ranier Gutierrez where he used electrophysiology, optogenetics, and instrumental conditioning to understand how the brain controls motivation, appetitive, and consummatory behaviors. During these investigations Jorge found that brain perturbations could be perceptible, a phenomenon that they termed  optoception. Jorge joined the Rossi lab in 2023 and is interested in identifying specific clusters of neurons related to motivation and consumption through calcium imaging. 

Postdoc

Yi received his Bachelor's degree in Preventive Medicine from Nantong Medical College in China (2007), his Master’s degree in neurophysiology from the Second Military Medical University in China (2012), and his PhD in neurobiology at Zhejiang University (2018) in the lab of Shumin Duan where he combined EEG/EMG recordings with optical stimulation, behavioral testing and optetrode recordings to study the effects of slow-wave sleep on spatial memory. Yi then worked with Zhiping Pang at Rutgers where he studied neuropeptide regulation of hypothalamic circuits and feeding behaviors. Yi joined the Rossi lab in 2024 to study lateral hypothalamic circuits controlling feeding and obesity via electrophysiology and deep brain two-photon calcium imaging. 

Research Assistant

Vikshar is currently a Research Technician in the lab. He earned his B.S. in General Biology from the University of Washington in 2022, along with minors in Applied Math and Chemistry. In his spare time, he likes to hike, perform stand-up comedy, and read. 

Research Assistant

Ashley received a B.A. in Psychology and Cognitive Science from Rutgers University-NB in 2022. She is interested in motivational circuitry to explain expected and unexpected behaviors before attending graduate school. In her free time, Ashley enjoys reading and spending time with friends and family.  

Undergraduate Researcher

Alessandro is a freshman at Rutgers New Brunswick majoring in Biological Sciences and planning to go to medical school. In his free time, he likes to spend time with his family, cats, and dog, swim competitively, collect records, and play the drums. 

CHIRP Summer Research Student

Jenyvib is a Rutgers University Honors College student majoring in biochemistry. 

neuroSURP Summer Research Student

Stephanie is a rising senior at LaSalle University majoring in Biology and Psychology.