Current Openings
Potential graduate students for 2025-2026 must be accepted into the Rutgers Neuroscience or Molecular Biosciences graduate programs.
Undergraduate students interested in joining the lab can apply by filling out our application form.
For other positions, please send inquiries and your CV to b.daniels@rutgers.edu.
Current Members
Brian Daniels, PhD
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience
Brian is from Greenville, SC and received BA/BS degrees in English and Behavioral Biology. He completed a PhD in neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis in 2015. He then completed postdoctoral training at the University of Washington in Seattle. He joined the department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience at Rutgers as an assistant professor in 2019. Brian is a fan of audiobooks and musical theatre.
Colm Atkins, PhD
Laboratory Manager, Research Associate
Colm is from Rockville, MD and earned a BS in Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics and a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Maryland. He earned his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2014, followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Texas Medical Branch. You can find him riding a bike, listening to a record, reading a book, or walking a dog.
Juan Angel
PhD Student
Juan is originally from Colombia. He received a BA in Cell Biology & Neuroscience from Rutgers University in 2021. He joined the lab in 2021 as a postbac scholar and continued with us as a PhD student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow in 2023. In his free time, Juan enjoys hiking, exercising, and taking pictures.
Evan DaPrano
PhD Student
Evan is from Syracuse, NY and received his BS in Neuroscience from Binghamton University. He is currently a third year Phd student in the Neuroscience Program. Outside of the lab, Evan enjoys playing volleyball, skiing, cooking, and baking.
Eduard Marmut
Postbaccalaureate Scholar
Eduard is originally from Russia but now resides in Tinton Falls, NJ. He received BA degrees in Cell Biology & Neuroscience and Psychology from Rutgers University in 2013 then founded a medical management firm in 2016. He joined the lab in Fall 2023 and plans to pursue an MD program. Outside of the lab, you can find him playing tennis, chess, reading, and fixing everyone’s electronics.
Rayhan Ahmad
Undergraduate Researcher
Rayhan is from Old Bridge, NJ and is currently a sophomore majoring in Cell Biology and Neuroscience with a minor in Public Health in the SAS Honors Program. He joined the lab in Spring 2025 and plans to pursue an MD or MD-PhD. In his free time, Rayhan enjoys photography, working out, and listening to R&B music.
Arpan Sheth
Undergraduate Researcher
Arpan is from Aberdeen, NJ and is currently a sophomore majoring in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Data Science. He joined the lab in Fall of 2024 and plans to pursue a master’s degree. In his free time. Arpan loves watching and playing sports, especially basketball. He also loves to travel, listen to music, and watch sitcoms.
Keya Thakkar
Undergraduate Researcher
Keya is from Toronto, Canada and is currently a sophomore majoring in Cell Biology & Neuroscience with a minor in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality studies. She joined the lab in Fall 2024 and plans to pursue an MD-PhD. During her free time, Keya loves to run, read, and play the guitar.
Alumni
Graduate Students
Nydia Chang: PhD Student (2019-2023)
Nydia joined the lab as a PhD student in the Neuroscience Program in 2019. Nydia established models of Parkinson's disease in the lab and earned numerous awards, including an F31 fellowship from NINDS. She is currenty a postdoc with Mark Albers at Massachusets General Hospital.
Tsui-Wen (Tracy) Chou: PhD Student (2020-2025)
Tracy was a PhD student in the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Program. Tracy's contributions to the lab include establishing models of ZIKV infection during pregnancy and mentoring two of our most successful undergrads (Po and Mickey!). She is currently a Co-op Scientist at Merck.
Irving Estevez: PhD Student (2021-2025)
Irving was a PhD student in the Neuroscience Program. His work was foundational for our ongoing interests in crosstalk between innate immunity and neurotransmission and was published in Immunity in 2025. Irving was also supported by the prestigious HHMI Gilliam Fellowship. He is currently working in the area of scientific communication as a Scientific Associate at VML Health in NYC.
Marissa Lindman: PhD Student (2020-2024)
Marissa was a PhD student in the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Program. Marissa made invaluable contributions to numerous projects in the lab, including two first author studies demonstrating roles for RIPK3 in promoting neuroprotective immunity during flavivirus encephalitis. She is currenty a postdoc with Margie Ackerman at Dartmouth University.
Undergraduate Researchers
Diego Alzate: Undergraduate Researcher (2022-2024)
Diego was a CBN major and the recipient of two fellowship awards through the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) . He made significant contributions to our studies of astrocyte metabolism in models of flavivirus encephalitis. This work, among other achievements, was recognized with the CBN Research Excellence Award (2025). Diego is currently pursuing clinical opportunities in preparation for applying to medical school.
Ben Buckley: Undergraduate Researcher (2021-2024)
Ben was a double major in CBN and philosophy and part of the SAS Honors program. Ben made important contributions to our studies of innate immune control of neurotransmission, including the establishment of in vivo models of seizure in the lab. Ben was recognized as a Henry Rutgers Scholar (2024) among many other accolades. He is currently a PhD student in Neuroscience at the University of Virginia.
Medha Krishnagiri: Undergraduate Researcher (2019-2021)
Medha was a CBN major whose project focused on mechanisms of programmed cell death during Parkinson's disease. She was a recipient of a Summer Student Fellowship from the Parkinson's Foundation (2020). She then did a postbac in the NIH IRTA program, working in Mark Cookson's lab. She is currently working as a policy analyst at the NIH/NIAMS Planning, Policy, and Analysis Branch, while pursing an MPH at the University of Maryland.
Po-Lun Kung: Undergraduate Researcher (2019-2022)
Po was a double major in CBN and Communications in the SAS Honors Program. He led some of our initial work analyzing the impact of adult ZIKV infection on brain function and behavior, even publishing a first author paper as an undergraduate! Po was recognized as a Henry Rutgers Scholar (2022) and is currently a PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania in the Developmental, Stem Cell, and Regenerative Biology program in the lab of Chris Thom.
Micheal McCourt: Undergraduate Researcher (2022-2024)
Micheal (Mickey) was a CBN major whose project focused on developmental abnormalities induced by congenital ZIKV infection. Mickey made critical contributions to our establishment of a model of "asymptomatic" maternal ZIKV infection, and this outstanding work was recognized with the CBN Research Excellence Award (2024). He is currently a PhD student in the Developmental, Stem Cell, and Regenerative Biology program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Nick Panzera: Undergraduate Researcher (2020-2023)
Nick was a CBN major who joined the lab through the Aresty Research Assistants Program. He initiated the foundational work for our ongoing studies examining how RIPK3 shapes susceptibility to excitotoxic cell death in neurons. Nick received two DLS Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships and was also recognized as a Henry Rutgers Scholar (2023). He is currently a PhD student in Immunology in the lab of Autumn York at the University of Washington, Seattle.
Aisha Patel: Undergraduate Researcher (2019-2020)
Aisha was a CBN major in the SAS honors program. She was the recipient of a DLS Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (2019). She was also named a Henry Rutgers Scholar (2020) in recognition of her outstanding honors thesis examining roles for alpha synuclein in promoting neuroinflammatory astrocyte polarization. Aisha is currently a PA student at Touro University Manhattan.
Winnie Wong: Undergraduate Researcher (2019-2021)
Winnie was a CBN major who initiated our first studies examining roles for P53 during Zika virus infection. She was the recipient of an Aresty Undergraduate Research Fellowship (2019) and a DLS Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (2020). She is currently pursuing a DDS at the University at Buffalo.
Rotation Students, Visiting Students, and Interns
Graduate Rotation Students
-Reem Alatrash (MMG, 2023) -Kimberly Newman (Neuroscience, 2019)
Undergraduate Interns
-Sarah Adams (CBN, 2021-2022) -Nicole Jorge (Biology, 2023-2024)
-Srija Indukuri (CBN, 2019-2020) -Santiago Botero (Anim. Sci., 2023)
-Hahram Kim (Visiting, 2019) -Emmanuel Worede-Kal (Biology, 2023)