CURRICULUM VITAE

Interests:
  • Sensory neurobiology
  • Scientific communication
  • Supporting diversity in the sciences & community building

Speaking

EDUCATION

The Rockefeller University, New York, NY
September 2017 - present
David Rockefeller Graduate Program
Fellowships & Awards:
     Kavli Neural Systems Institute Graduate Fellow (2021)
     National Science Foundation - Graduate Research Fellowship Recipient (2019)
     Women & Science Graduate Fellow (2017)

Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, NY
September 2010 - May 2014
Major: Neuroscience & Behavior (Cellular concentration)
Honors: On Dean’s List for Fall 2010-Fall 2013

Highland Park Public High School, Highland Park, NJ
September 2006 - May 2010

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RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

The Rockefeller University, Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior
Graduate fellow (August 2018 - present)
Advisor: Dr. Leslie Vosshall
  • Investigating chemosensation in the mosquito Aedes aegypti and the neurobiological mechanisms of the insect repellant, DEET.

Rotation #1: Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior (September 2017 - December 2017)
Advisors: Dr. Laura Duvall, Dr. Leslie Vosshall
  • Investigated the molecular neurobiology and behavior of mating and host-seeking in various species of mosquitoes.
Rotation #2: Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Behavior (January 2018 - May 2018)
Advisors: Dr. Rory Coleman, Dr. Vanessa Ruta
  • Developed assays for investigating visually-mediated input in Drosophila courtship circuitry.
Rotation #3: Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Language, May 2018 - July 2018
Advisors: Greg Gedman, Dr. Erich Jarvis
  • Used next-generation sequencing to resolve cell type and activity patterns in songbird brain regions.

Columbia University, Department of Neuroscience
Research Assistant (July 2014 - November 2016)
Advisor: Dr. Eleanor Simpson, lab of Nobel Prize winner Dr. Eric Kandel
  • Main project: Using behavioral pharmacology and microdialysis, investigated the impact of 5-HT2c receptor modulation on tonic dopamine changes in the midbrain during motivated behavior.
  • Other projects: Investigated neurogenesis in the striatum using different behavioral paradigms, rt-qPCR, immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy.
  • Mentoring: Mentored one undergraduate student for two summers, one high school student for one summer, trained recently hired research assistants.

Barnard College of Columbia University, Department of Biology
Undergraduate Research Assistant (September 2011-May 2014)
Advisor: Dr. John Glendinning
  • Undergraduate Thesis Project: Performed in vivo electrophysiology in rats to investigate alterations in the peripheral taste system caused by fetal ethanol exposure. Developed procedures for accessing, recording from the lingual and glossopharyngeal nerve, stimulating sensory fields and analyzing data.
  • Funding: Columbia’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) in Biological Sciences for Summer 2013.
  • Other Projects: Examined the role of oral stimulation of sweet taste in the release of insulin from the pancreas.

Princeton University, Department of Molecular Biology
Undergraduate Research Assistant (Summer 2012)
Advisor: Dr. Amanda Crocker, Dr. Mala Murthy
  • Worked on the development of single-fly, appetitive-conditioning Drosophila melanogaster assay for measuring olfactory learning for the investigation of cellular memory traces.

SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS

Herre M*, Goldman OV*, Lu TZ, Caballero-Vidal G, Qi Y, Gilbert ZN, Gong Z, Morita T, Rahiel S, Ghaninia M, Ignell R, Matthews BJ, Li H, Vosshall LB, Younger MA. Non-Canonical Odor Coding in the Mosquito. Cell. 2022 August 18. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.07.024

Huber T, Goldman O, Epstein AE, Stella G, Sakmar TP. Principles and Practice of SARS-CoV-2 Decontamination of N95 Masks with
UV-C. Biophyiscal Journal. 2021 March 3 (on medRxiv 2020 June 9). doi: 10.1101/2020.06.08.20125062.

Dennis EJ, Goldman OV, Vosshall LB. Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes Use Their Legs to Sense DEET on Contact. Current Biology. 2019 May 6. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.04.004.

Bailey M, Goldman O, Bello E, Jeong N, Winiger V, Schipani E, Balsam P, Simpson E. An Interaction between Serotonin Receptor Signaling and Dopamine Enhances Goal-Directed Vigor and Persistence in Mice. Journal of Neuroscience. 2018 January 24. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2088-17.2018

Glendinning JI, Stano S, Holter M, Azenkot T, Goldman O, Margolskee RF, Vesselli JR, Sclafani A. Sugar-induced cephalic-phase insulin release is mediated by a T1r2+T1r3-independent taste transduction pathway in mice. American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 2015 July 8. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00056.2015

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Laboratory Mentees
Ricarda von Heynitz          Undergraduate Research Assistant          Summer 2019
Jin Hee Yoo                         Undergraduate Research Assistant          Winter 2019
Priyanka Lakhiani              Graduate Rotation Student                        Winter/Spring 2020
Julia Deere                          Graduate Rotation Student                        Spring 2021
Rashaun Bennet                High School Intern                                       Summer 2021
Ahanaf Tajwar                    High School Intern                                       Summer 2021
Ashley Zeledon                  High School Intern                                       Summer 2021
Jacopo Razzauti                 Graduate Rotation Student                        Summer/Fall 2021
Alexandra DeFoe               Research Assistant                                       Winter 2021 - present

Introduction to Organismal and Evolutionary Biology & Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology
Supplemental Instruction Leader, Barnard College of Columbia University
Semesters: Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012
Responsibilities Included: Assisting approx. 150 students each semester, planning and leading 3 discussion sessions per week, leading review sessions before exams, holding office hours

Molecular & Mendelian Genetics
Supplemental Instruction Leader, Barnard College of Columbia University
Semesters: Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
Responsibilities Included: Assisting approx. 30-60 students each semester, planning and leading 2-3 discussion sessions per week, leading review sessions before exams, holding office hours

PRESENTATIONS / WORKSHOPS

Scientific Research
Chemosensory coding in the Aedes aegypti tarsi. (October 2021, Janelia Mechanistic Cognitive Neuroscience Workshop)
Chemosensory coding in the Aedes aegypti tarsi. (August 2021, Rockefeller Postdoctoral Association Seminar Series)
Chemosensory coding in the Aedes aegypti tarsi. (April 2021, Rockefeller Invertebrate Supergroup)
Cracking the Mosquito Taste Code (July 2021, RockEDU/Summer Science Research Program, The Rockefeller University)
When mosquitoes don't suck: Investigating the chemosensory code of insect repellents. (September 2019, Rockefeller University Student Retreat)
Mosquitoes & The Sensory Encoding of Taste. The Family Room: Knowledge Share Night (August 2019, New York City)

Workshops Attended
Wellcome Connecting Science: Single Cell Technologies and Analysis (July 2021)
MILRD Institute: Single-cell Transcriptomics + Habenula Neuron Characterization Virtual Training Program (November 2020)
Tri-Institutional Biomedical Computing Programs: Introduction to differential gene expression analysis using RNA-seq (July 2019)

Outreach
Applying to Graduate School (March 2020, CUNY Mexican Studies Institute)
Applying to Graduate School (January 2020, Creating STEM Mentors Day at Chandler Gilbert Community College, AZ)
Applying to Summer Research Programs (January 2020, STEM Professional Day at the American Museum of Natural History)

Virtual Reality
Stabilizing Parkinson’s Patients Tremors in VR. VR Day (November 2019, Live in AltSpace VR)
Mosquitoes vs. Humans. NYVR NYC Meet Up (Theme: Ethics) @ RLab (September 2019, New York City)
Mosquitoes vs. Humans. VR in Education Meet Up (September 2019, New York City)
Mosquitoes vs. Humans. Games for Change Festival 2019 (July 2019, New York City)
Open XR Project Workshop. Games for Change Festival 2020 (July 2020, Virtual)

OUTREACH & SERVICE

Científico Latino, Outreach organization
Co-Founder, Executive Co-Director (July 2017 - present)
An organization that aims to help undergraduate, graduate and professional students by providing resources on scholarships and fellowships, as well as blog posts on professional development. Co-directed guided mentorship initiative for over 100 underrepresented graduate school applicants in 2019, and over 400 students in 2020. (website)

NeuroStorm Journal Club, Columbia University/Rockefeller University
Organizer (July 2014 - September 2017), President (September 2017 - present)
A neuroscience think-tank that has been the birthplace of several companies and startups. Gathers in the form of weekly, interdisciplinary, student-run neuroscience journal club, with doctoral and post-doctoral members from labs across multiple departments of Columbia University and Rockefeller University.
Acquired funding: Kavli Neural Systems Institute, The Rockefeller University

BioAcCES 2020 Conference, Rockefeller University, Co-founder/Co-director (Summer/Fall 2019)
A virtual conference on October 3, 2020 for undergraduate students, co-hosted by RiSI, Científico Latino, and the Rockefeller Dean's Office of Graduate Studies. Featuring workshops on professional development as well as presentations and posters by undergraduates. 200+ attendees. (website)

COVID-19 Research Restart Officer, Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, Rockefeller University (May 2020 - August 2020)
Developed regulation and scheduling system for lab operations during initial re-opening phases for safe laboratory practices for preventing COVID-19 transmission.

Rockefeller Inclusive Science Initiative (RiSI), Rockefeller University Diversity Initiative
Website management, Communications Committee Member (April 2020 - Oct 2021), Member (April 2020 - present)
Serving on committee that coordinates campus-wide journal clubs and fireside chats on diversity, equality, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) in science and academia. Maintain website.

Rockefeller University Student Retreat, Organizer (January 2019 - September 2019)
Organized and gave a talk at Rockefeller's overnight student-run academic retreat for all graduate students (100+ attendees).

Graduate Women in Science, Non-profit organization, Fellowship committee member/Media contributor (November 2016 - 2018)
Selected as a committee member for determining awardees of the GWIS National Fellowships Program​, contributes content featuring prominent women scientists.

St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, Volunteer Music Program Founder/Coordinator (Fall 2011 - Fall 2015)
Initiated a program for organizing performances in various units of the hospital (e.g., Adult Psychiatric, Detox, Geriatric Psych, Adult Rehab) by contacting performers and working as a liaison with hospital staff