Team

Anya is a graduate of Rutgers University, where she earned her degree in Cell Biology and Neuroscience. During her time at Rutgers, she conducted developmental neuroscience research, examining how early-life antibiotic exposure impacts neurogenesis and behavior in genetically vulnerable mice. Currently, in the lab, she leads research focused on women’s health, with an emphasis on the effects of brain injury during pregnancy. Her work takes both an epidemiological and neuroscience-based approach to better understand and support this vulnerable population.

‍

Brian Szekely, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab whose interdisciplinary background spans biomechanics, vision science, and neuroscience. He earned a B.S. in Exercise Science from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, an M.S. in Kinesiology from Georgia Southern University, an M.S. in Computer Science and Engineering with a focus on Artificial Intelligence, and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Nevada, Reno. His doctoral research examined how visual processing fluctuates throughout the human gait cycle, and he has contributed to a wide range of projects involving psychophysics, VR-based assessments, and machine learning models of sensorimotor behavior. Dr. Szekely now leverages this expertise to investigate the long-term neurological effects of repetitive head impacts in former American football players.

Jared graduated from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where he was a Colors of the Brain-Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind Scholar. While at UCSD, he conducted neurodevelopmental research investigating the relationship between subcortical volume and tic severity in Tourette Syndrome. As a former athlete, Jared is now enthusiastic about exploring the long-term effects of head injuries using neuroimaging techniques. In the lab, Jared focuses on manually segmenting complex brain regions in former American football players to investigate structural alterations associated with repetitive head impacts.

‍

Sabrina is an undergraduate student at New York University, majoring in Psychology with a minor in Chemistry. Aspiring to become a physician, she has a keen interest in neurology, particularly in the area of traumatic brain injury (TBI) research. Through her coursework and lab experience, Sabrina aims to expand her knowledge of how brain trauma affects cognitive and behavioral function, with the ultimate goal of contributing to advancements in neurological care and treatment. In the lab, Sabrina is investigating the neuroanatomical changes during pregnancy.

‍

David is an undergraduate student at New York University, majoring in Neural Science with minors in Business and Chemistry. In addition to his work in our lab, he also conducts research in Dr. Wendy Suzuki’s lab, where he investigates the effects of music and exercise on cognitive performance and academic outcomes. In our lab, David is studying the neuroanatomical changes that follow repetitive head impacts in former American football players.

Mia-Alani is an undergraduate student at New York University majoring in Psychology with a strong interest in Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive aging, and the neural mechanisms underlying memory and neurodegeneration. In the lab, she examines structural radiological indices in former American football players to better understand how repetitive head impacts may affect the brain.

Matt is an undergraduate student at Cornell University majoring in biology, with a minor in health equity, on the pre-med track. He has a strong interest in traumatic brain injuries in athletes and is currently working on a study examining the return to academics post-concussion among student athletes at his home institution. He has previously worked with the concussion research team at the Injury Prevention Center at the University of Michigan, presented at conferences with them, and continues to collaborate on the Big Ten-Ivy League Epidemiology Study. In the lab, he focuses on studying the long-term consequences of repetitive head impacts in contact and collision sport athletes.

‍