Lab Manager
Álvaro Luna (rankinlabtech@psych.ubc.ca)
Alex Yu, Neuroscience PhD Candidate (alex.yu@psych.ubc.ca)
Alex’s research investigates how mutations in neuropeptide genes, which encode a large, diverse, class of neuromodulatory molecules, affect different forms of behavioural facilitation. His research provides insight into how neuromodulation by neuropeptides shapes animal’s behaviour and mediate learning and memory.
Joseph Liang, Neuroscience PhD Candidate (joseph.liang@psych.ubc.ca)
Joseph’s research focuses on the functional annotation of genes that have been implicated in Parkinson’s Disease. Modern population genomic studies (GWAS’s) have identified a large and increasing number of risk loci that may be linked to Parkinson’s Disease, but researchers still don’t know the biological function or relevance of many of these genes. Joseph uses the C. elegans model to study the function and relevance of these genes on a large number of phenotypes. His research provides novel genotype-to-phenotype relationships for a large number of genes that are implicated to disease.
Lexi Kepler, Cell and Developmental Biology PhD Candidate (lexiskepler@gmail.com)
Lexi’s research focuses on understanding how genes associated with neurodevelopmental disorders contribute to behaviour by studying their spatiotemporal function in C. elegans. Using conditional protein degradation and high-throughput behavioural assays, she investigates when and where risk gene orthologs are required during development to support sensory processing, learning, and motor function. Her work contributes to uncovering critical periods of gene function and principles of nervous system plasticity, while offering insight into the processes that underlie human neurodevelopmental conditions.
Nikolas Kokan, Neuroscience PhD Candidate (kokan.nikolas@gmail.com)
Nikolas’s research focuses on how timing impacts the foundational form of learning habituation. His research aims to produce a detailed description of how timing impacts the rate depth and memory of habituation. Additionally, Nikolas has found evidence for distinct habituation processes that are differentially effected by the timing stimuli. Therefore, he is investigating what genes may act in timing sensitive habituation pathways, and locating where these pathways might be located in the worms nervous system.
Yvette Ni, Psychology MA Student (yvetteni@student.ubc.ca)
Yvette studies how acute ethanol exposure alters sensorimotor responses and habituation in C. elegans, and how these changes are mediated by synaptic regulatory genes. By combining high-throughput behavioural tracking with genetic manipulations, Yvette aims to uncover how alcohol influences habituation processes at the molecular and circuit levels.
