Current Lab Members

Helen Chen, PhD, MSTP Student

Helen Chen is a seventh-year MSTP student interested in maternal-fetal psychiatry and obstetrics and gynecology. She graduated from Northwestern University in 2016 with a degree in neuroscience and cognitive science. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and baking (and eating), watching baseball (go Nats!), and exploring the city.

Therese Rajasekera, PhD Candidate

Therese is a third-year student in the Environmental Sciences Graduate Program, specializing in Environmental Public Health. She graduated from Ohio State in 2017, majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Spanish, and earned an MPH in 2019 from Ohio State. She is an avid fan of coffee, yoga, and her sweet cat.

Branden Verosky, MSTP Student

Branden is a third year MSTP student interested in how maternal stress interacts with immune function to impact fetal brain development. He earned a degree in Neuroscience at the Ohio State University in 2020. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, rock climbing, reading, and hanging out with friends and family.

Jeff Galley, PhD, Research Scientist

Felix Yang, PhD Candidate

Felix is a fourth-year MSTP student interested in how different maternal stressors impact offspring metabolic and neurodevelopmental outcomes. He graduated from Rice University in 2016 with a degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, trying different restaurants, and spending time with his family and friends.

Justin Mitchell, MD Candidate

Justin Mitchell is a fourth-year medical student interested in Internal Medicine. He graduated from Ohio University in 2019 after majoring in Biology. He currently runs the Reach Out mentorship organization that pairs high school students with medical student mentors, with the long-term goal of increasing college matriculation rates. Justin enjoys cooking, listening to music, and running.

Hayat Mekonen, Undergraduate Research Assistant

Hayat is an undergraduate student at Ohio State majoring in Public Health with a specialization in Environmental Public Health. Following graduation, she plans to attend medical school where she hopes to explore her interests in preventative care, expanding access to adequate healthcare in underserved communities, and creating a more equitable healthcare system. Upon completion of her education, Hayat hopes to become a practicing physician actively working to reduce health disparities among marginalized populations in the United States while influencing more inclusive healthcare policies through leadership. In her free time, she enjoys reading, painting, hiking, and spending time with her dog.

Jaiden Stokes, Summer Undergraduate Research Assistant

Jaiden Stokes is an undergraduate student at Brown University where she studies Medical Anthropology and Psychology with a focus in Neuroscience. Additionally, she is a varsity athlete on the Women’s Track and Field team, where she served as an underclassmen ambassador. She also serves as the Diversity and Inclusion Co-Chair on the Student Athlete Advisory Board for the University. She is a founding member of the club Strong Is Beautiful, which focuses on encouraging body image positivity among female athletes. After graduation, Jaiden’s goals include attending medical school and eventually working to address medical disparities among pregnant women of color. In her free time, she enjoys reading (mostly fiction), listening to music, and baking!

Alumni

Jennifer Smith

Jen graduated from Ohio State in 2022 with bachelor’s in Behavioral Neuroscience and
minor in Integrative Approaches to Health and Wellness. She is currently a graduate student at University of Michigan. In her free time, she enjoys figure skating, poetry/blogging, studying world religions, and playing the guitar.

Gracyn Noffert, MD Candidate

Gracyn is a medical student at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. She is conducting research in the Gur Lab through the Samuel J. Roessler Memorial Scholarship through OSUCOM. Gracyn completed her BS with Honors in Psychology at The Ohio State University in 2020. In her free time, she loves to try new coffee shops, work on puzzles, and play with her 15 lb. cat (Kitty).

Adrienne Antonson, PhD

Adrienne completed her PhD through the Integrative Immunology and Behavior program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and was a T32 Postdoctoral Fellow at Ohio State. She investigated the impact of gestational stress and infection on maternal microbial responses and offspring neurodevelopment and behavior. As of 2021, she is off to launch her own lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign!

Charissa Newkirk, MD

Charissa is a resident in the Department of Psychiatry at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. She conducted research in the Gur Lab through the Barnes Medical Student Research Scholarship through OSUCOM. She completed her BS with Honors in Biological Sciences at The University of Chicago in 2017. In her free time, she enjoys running, baking, and spending time with her two younger brothers.

Matt Conrad, MD, PhD

Matt is a practicing OB/GYN in Wisconsin who completed his residency at Ohio State. He completed his PhD in Neuroscience in 2014 and his MD in 2017 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  He is interested in the impact of maternal inflammation and infection on fetal brain development, neurocognitive development, and pregnancy outcomes.  Matt currently lives with his wife, daughter, and dog and enjoys spending time outdoors with the family and doing home improvement projects.​

Allison Bischoff, Graduate Student

Allison graduated from Ohio State in 2021, majoring in Molecular Genetics. She is currently a graduate student in Cancer Biology at the University of Michigan.

Hannah Rashidi, BS

Hannah graduated from Ohio State in 2021, majoring in Neuroscience. Her career goals include attending medical school where she hopes to pursue a career in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Zach Waite, BS

Zach graduated from Ohio State in 2020, majoring in Neuroscience. After completing his studies at Ohio State, he hopes to attend medical school where he plans on pursuing a career in sports medicine.

Sydney Schiff, RN Candidate

Sydney was an undergraduate in the lab before taking the position as Lab Manager. She is currently a nursing student at Ohio State.

Julia Engel, MPH Candidate

Julia  graduated from Ohio State in 2019, majoring in Public Health with a specialization in Sociology. She also received a MPH from OSU. She is currently a medical student at the University of Louisville.

Lauren Guest, MD

Lauren is a resident in anesthesiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. She graduated from The Ohio State University College of Medicine in 2022. She conducted research in the Gur Lab funded by the Bennett Medical Student Research Scholarship through OSUCOM. She earned a Bachelors of Science in Biology and a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology at Ohio University in 2018.

Sydney Lammers, MD

Sydney is a resident in OB/GYN at Ohio State. She graduated from The Ohio State University College of Medicine in 2022. She conducted research in the Gur Lab through the Barnes Medical Student Research Scholarship through OSUCOM. She earned a Bachelors of Science with Honors in Human Health Sciences at the University of Kentucky in 2018.

Paige Cappelucci, MS, MD

Paige is a resident in anesthesiology at Ohio State. She graduated from The Ohio State University College of Medicine in 2022. She conducted research in the Gur Lab through the Roessler Medical Student Research Scholarship through OSUCOM. She earned a Bachelors of Arts in Biology with a Minor in Neuroscience from Miami University and a Master’s of Science in Medical Physiology at Case Western Reserve University.

Amber Dalal, DDS Candidate

Amber is a dental student at The Ohio State University. She graduated from Ohio State in 2019, majoring in Finance.

Moriah Miller-Gnann, DDS Candidate

Moriah is a dental student at University of Louisville. She graduated from Ohio State majoring in Chinese while on the pre-dental track.

Jenna Patterson, MD

Jenna is a PGY-2 resident in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Ohio State.

Aditi Shirish Vadodkar, MS, MBA

Aditi graduated with a Masters degree in Bioinformatics in 2011 from Arizona State University. Aditi is currently a Senior Research Scientist at Fred Hutchinson in Seattle, WA.

Sydney Fisher, MPH, MBA

Sydney graduated from OSU’s MPH-PEP program in August 2017 and earned an MBA in 2020.

Amber Moore, MPH

Amber graduated from OSU in 2018, majoring in Public Health and minoring in Microbiology. She recently earned a Master’s in Public Health, specializing in Epidemiology, from Emory University.

Lena Carlson, MD

Lena is a 2018 graduate of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, she is currently an OB/GYN resident at Baylor. Lena completed her Bachelor’s degree in biology at Ohio Northern University.

Jonathan Huang, MD

Jonathan was a Biology Major with a neuroscience minor at Ohio State. He is currently a resident at the University of Cincinnati.

Ellen Tan, DO

Ellen was a Neuroscience major at Ohio State. She is currently an Internal Medicine Resident

at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Hanley Speidel, MS, MD Candidate

Hanley is a 2017 graduate of Ohio State, and a current medical student.