Research
Experience
Doctoral & Postdoctoral Researcher
2019 – PresentHarnett Lab · Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Discovered plateau potentials in neocortical pyramidal neurons, a cellular mechanism that instructs rapid synaptic plasticity, advancing current models of cortical learning and generating a first-author manuscript
- Designed and executed 300+ in vivo mouse electrophysiology experiments combining whole-cell patch clamp recordings, visual stimulation paradigms, and behavioral monitoring
- Built and maintained Python/MATLAB analysis pipelines for large-scale physiological datasets, implementing event detection, feature extraction, and statistical modeling algorithms — reducing manual analysis time by ~70%
- Engineered LN-Remote, an open-source remote controller for automated probe insertion, saving ~40 minutes per experiment and boosting lab-wide experimental throughput
- Integrated histology, immunohistochemistry, and confocal microscopy to validate recording sites and neuronal morphology
- Mentored and trained 9 lab members in electrophysiology, stereotaxic surgery, microscopy, and quantitative analysis
- Built a lab-wide protocol database consolidating SOPs, surgical procedures, and analysis guides
Publications
Selected Work
Plateau potentials are instructive signals for behavioral timescale synaptic plasticity in the neocortex.
Manuscript under review at Nature
* Equal Contribution
Dendritic mechanisms for in vivo neural computations and behavior.
Journal of Neuroscience
Representation of visual landmarks in retrosplenial cortex.
eLife · DOI: 10.7554/eLife.51458