Our Team

Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Engler-Chiurazzi, Ph.D. Principal Investigator and Director of “Liz’s Lab”

Dr. Liz (she/her/hers) grew up swimming and surfing in a lovely southern California town called Thousand Oaks, went to school in Arizona (Go Sun Devils!) to earn her Ph.D. in Psychology with a focus on behavioral neuroscience and women’s health, moved to Morgantown, WV for her postdoctoral fellowship in 2013 to study stroke and dementia, founded and directed the WVU Rodent Behavior Core shared research facility, launched her neuroscience research laboratory at WVU (Go Mountaineers!) in 2017 and finally moved to Tulane University (Roll Wave!) as an Assistant Professor. Beyond the bench, Dr. Liz is mom to the most amazing human, partner to her longtime spouse, a brain outreach guru, a Spanish-speaking travel-loving foodie, and a roller derby diva/host of the Brains & Bruises blog.

Connect with me!

Twitter = @ScientistLizEC

Instagram = @scientistlizEC

Pinterest = @ScientistLizEC

Reddit = u/ScientistLiz

Raul Freitas, Ph.D. Laboratory Manager

Dr. Raul is originally from northeast Brazil. He earned his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences with training in clinical laboratory technology at Federal University of Piaui, Brazil. Following undergrad, he obtained a master’s degree in biotechnology with experience in Immunopharmacology, inflammatory diseases, and pharmacology of natural products. In 2018 he received his doctoral degree in morphofunctional sciences with a major in neurosciences from Federal University of Ceara, where his dissertation focused on cerebrovascular diseases, more specifically ischemic stroke along with the cellular and molecular mechanisms of ischemic brain damage and neuroprotection. During his PhD, he completed a doctoral internship at the Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Louisiana State University, New Orleans where he received training in experimental models of ischemic stroke and different lab techniques while working on the project “DHA-mediated Neuroprotection in Experimental Ischemic Stroke”. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, eating, and spending time with family and friends.

Hanyun ‘Habby’ Wang, M.S. Laboratory Technician

Habby grew up in Ningbo, China. She majored in both Neuroscience and Economics as an undergrad at Tulane and explored research in both fields. For Habby’s master’s thesis research, she explored the oscillation mechanisms within the thalamocortical circuit using a computation model. She is particularly interested in systems neuroscience, neural circuits, and synaptic plasticity. Outside of the lab, Habby loves spending time with her cats and playing with her friends’ dogs. She also enjoys hiking, traveling, and drinking with her friends. Habby will be on her way to obtaining a doctoral degree in Neuroscience starting in Fall 2023.

India Pursell, B.S. Graduate Student

India grew up in southeast Louisiana and is currently a doctoral neuroscience student at Tulane University Brain Institute. She attended Louisiana Tech University where she received her B.S in Biological Sciences. During this time at Louisiana Tech, she spent 4 years researching stem cell tissue engineering and regenerative medicine therapies. After graduating, she accepted a lab tech position at Tulane University Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine followed by an additional role with Tulane Cell and Molecular Biology researching neuroendocrine & stress. India is interested in the relationship between the immune system, mitochondrial dysfunction & neurodegeneration. She is an advocate for woman and low SES students in STEM. Besides her love for science, she enjoys baking, running, and reading.

Lucas Garfinkel, B.S. Laboratory Technician

Lucas grew up in the small but charming town of Mendham, New Jersey. He is an undergraduate student at Tulane University majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Business Management. Lucas is particularly interested in cognitive and clinical neuroscience, abnormal psychology, and physiology. Upon graduation in 2022, Lucas plans on taking one or two gap years before attending medical school. Outside of the lab, Lucas loves playing the piano, skiing, and traveling around the world. Lucas’ career goal is to intersect his passions of neuroscience, medicine, and helping others in order to become a neurosurgeon.

Miayla Marcus Visiting International Scholar

Miayla is an undergraduate visiting scholar from London. She is currently studying BSc in Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Manchester. After finishing her research year at Tulane Miayla is planning to return to the University of Manchester to finish her undergraduate degree and then hopefully pursue a PhD in social neuroscience. Alongside her research interests Miayla also loves playing the harp, reading and swimming.

Current Undergraduate Volunteers

Kail Citron, Divya Kikkeri, Lily Lambert, Shreya Maggon, Sam Rawlins, Sharhana Shrestha, Advaith Subramanian

Past Lab Team Members and Where They Are Now

Tulane University

Wesley Chastain, M.S. (Laboratory Technician) - Medical Student, Tulane University

Kate McDonald, M.S. (Laboratory Technician) - Doctoral Trainee, University of Michigan

Ilana Spitz, B.S. (Undergraduate Volunteer) - Master’s Student, Rosalind Franklin University

Grant Talkington, M.S. (DeBakey Summer Research Fellow) - M.D./Ph.D. Trainee, Tulane University

West Virginia University

Eleana Cook, M.S. (Undergraduate Volunteer) - Graduate Student, Alderson Brodus College

Deborah ‘Debbie’ Corbin, B.S. (Laboratory Manager) - Laboratory Manager, WVU Center for Basic & Translational Stroke Research

Josie Gilbert (WVU Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program) - Undergraduate Student, WVU

Anna Gunter, B.S. (WVU Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program) - Research Coordinator, Emory University

James Hammock, B.S. (Undergraduate Volunteer) - Medical Student, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Cecelia ‘Cece’ Jebbia, PharmD (PharmD Year 1 Research Rotation) - Pharmacy Resident, Cleveland Clinic

Heather Kiblinger, B.S. (INBRE Undergraduate Summer Fellow)- M.S. Graduate Student, Alderson Brodus College

Sara Nayeem, B.S. (Undergraduate Honor’s Thesis) - Medical Student, WVU

Sabrina Seigan (WVU Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program) - Undergraduate Student, WVU

Hana Ulman (WVU Summer Undergraduate Research Experience) - Doctoral Student, WVU

Brishti White (Psychology Bachelor’s Captsone Project)- Graduate Student, Michigan State University