LOIS LAB

Carlos Lois, Principal Investigator

Carlos did his PhD in the laboratory of Arturo Alvarez-Buylla at the Rockefeller University where he investigated the origins and dynamics of newly-generated neurons during adult neurogenesis in mammals. He did postdoctoral work in the laboratory of David Baltimore at Caltech and MIT, where he developed a transgenic method to genetically engineer species of neurobiological interest. He enjoys playing with his two children, hanging out in the Pacific ocean, and reading fiction. 

Xi Chen likes messing with eggs!

Lu Liu grew up in Zheng Zhou, China. She lived in Shanghai for many years for her undergrad and graduate training. She received her B.S. in biomedical engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and got her Ph.D. from the Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai. She is interested in neural dynamics and learning rules of singing behavior in song birds.

Jiahui Peng grew up in Xi’an, China, and spent her happy undergraduate years in Peking University, School of Life Sciences. She is charmed by the mechanisms nature has evolved in the neural system to support amazing functions such as learning and memory. In the Lois lab, she studies the neural basis of singing behavior in song birds.

Jiang Wu is from Quzhou, China. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he explored various directions from synthetic biology, biophysics to neuroscience. In the Lois Lab, Jiang is studying learning and memory formation in mice and birds using calcium imaging.

Panagiota Loizidou is a PhD student passionate about understanding how memories are encoded and maintained. Panagiota's academic journey encompasses a bachelor's degree in cultural anthropology and human sciences, a post-baccalaureate in pre-medical sciences, and a master's in neuroscience. Her fascination with spatial and emotional memory has driven her research journey. During her master's program, she delved into the complexities of emotional memory within the rat hippocampus and amygdala, exploring how REM sleep influences the stability of memory traces. Panagiota's current focus lies in the factors influencing memory stability, particularly the impact of task demands, sensory context, and sleep.

Ines Zaragoza Llatas graduated with honors from her BSc at Ecole Polytechnique of Paris (France), where she studied a double major in Mathematics and Physics, and also did a minor in Biology. During her undergraduate research, she decided to study the effects of mechanical forces on neuronal physiology.
In June 2024, Ines joined the Lois lab as a Computation and Neural System (CNS) PhD student. Her goal is to incorporate her quantitative training to investigate the assembly and computations of neuronal circuits that give rise to brain function and behavior.

Ting-Hao Huang is from Taipei, Taiwan. He received his M.S. in Neuroscience in Taiwan before getting his Ph.D. at UMass Worcester. He is part of the team developing TRACT system- a genetically encoded system for monitoring cell-cell contact. He likes to play baseball and spend his time with his family when he's not in lab.

Aubrie De La Cruz is from Southern California and studied at Cal Poly Pomona for her B.S. in biology. She helps assemble the constructs that are used to help optimize the TRACT signaling system. Aubrie tests the different constructs of the TRACT system using transgenic drosophila. When Aubrie is not in the lab, she enjoys spending time outside and going to concerts.

Aymeric Busidan is from Northern Virginia and graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelors in Biochemistry. He is currently studying the change in protein expression based off neuron movement and helps with cloning in other lab projects. Outside of the lab, he likes going to the beach and watching movies and hanging out with Leonardo Dicaprio. 

Nicole Schweers was born and raised in Germany. In 2009, her career led her to Caltech. She joined the Lois lab in fall 2021. When she isn’t taking care of the animals in the lab, she loves spending time with her dog and 3 cats.