Committees

The purpose of the Admissions Committee is to holistically review applications and identify promising prospective students who will make positive contributions to the UCSD Neurosciences Graduate Program, both as scientists and community members. 

The Admissions Committee consists of faculty and students who meet approximately three times during the winter quarter. Membership on this committee requires a substantial time commitment since members of the committee must review 150-200 applicant files during a 1-2 week period. After the files have been reviewed, the committee convenes to discuss the individual applicant files and select a group of prospective students. These students are invited to visit the program and interview with Admissions Committee members and other faculty members. Finally, following interviews, the committee meets to decide which prospective students will be offered admission into the program.

Faculty Members

Brenda Bloodgood, Ph.D. (Chair)
Jeffry Isaacson, Ph.D. (Co-Chair)
Shelley Halpain, Ph.D. (Diversity Committee Chair)
Nicola Allen, Ph.D.
Eiman Azim, Ph.D.
Kristin Baldwin, PhD.
Matt Banghart, Ph.D.
Jerold Chun, M.D., Ph.D.
Tim Gentner, Ph.D.
Christina Gremel, Ph.D.
Eric Halgren, Ph.D.
Matt Lovelett-Barron, Ph.D.
Eran Mukamel, Ph.D.
Gulcin Pekkurnaz, Ph.D.
Robert Rissman, Ph.D.
John Serences, Ph.D.
Roy Subhojit, Ph.D.
Jared Young, Ph.D.

Student Members

Alicia Van Enoo 
Sydney Smith 
Chiaki Santiago
Louise Stolz 
JC Gorman 
Ricky Lozoya 
Grace Padilla 
Jeremy Lin 
Kween Agba 
Oren Wilcox 

Contact Info

For more information about the Admissions Committee, please contact Alicia Van Enoo

The purpose of the Career Development Committee is to support graduate students in finding gainful and meaningful employment by familiarizing them with traditional and non-traditional career options, and providing opportunities for skill development and networking. The committee maintains the NGP Alumni Network and LinkedIn Group, organizes alumni career panels, hosts skill-building workshops, and maintains a quarterly newsletter of career development opportunities on and off campus. The committee also runs "Job Talk," a blog of informational interviews with professionals in STEM-related fields.

Student Members

Vivian Ko (Chair)
Sammi Sison
Emily Baltz
Jess Du
Sydney Smith
Norah Al-Azzam
Kween Agba
Desi Chu
Oren Wilcox
Louise Stolz
Vaidehi Gupta
Sowmya Manojna
Dante Fisher
Bri Marsh
Meghan Rossi

Contact Info

For more information about the Career Development Committee, please contact Vivian Ko.

The purpose of the Computational Neuroscience Committee is to empower students to pursue the Computational Neurosciences Specialization and more generally, to increase computational proficiency for all members of the NGP community. Student members organize a lunch during bootcamp and host bi-weekly journal clubs.

Faculty Members

David Kleinfeld, Ph.D. (Chair/Physics Representative)
Tatyana Sharpee, Ph.D. (Co-Chair)
Gert Cauwenberghs, Ph.D. (Bioengineering Representative)
Tim Gentner, Ph.D.

Student Members

Chair
Jess Haley
Ryan Golden
Andrew Bender
Leo Breston
Burke Rosen
Bri Marsh
Michael Preston
Xinyue Xia
Trevor McPherson
Ji-An Li
Blanca Martin
JC Gorman
Ilya Verzhbinsky
Shuangquan Feng
Yuru Song
Abbey Green
Sowmya Manojna
Sierra Wilson
Shiva Azizpourlindi
Ali Rigby
Carlos Escalante Vera
Cynthia Nyongesa

Contact Info

For more information about the Computational Neuroscience Committee, please contact Jess Haley. For more resources and information about the curriculum and faculty of the Specialization, please take a look at the Computational Neuroscience page.

The purpose of the Curriculum Committee is to maintain and improve the curriculum for the UCSD Neurosciences Graduate Program. The committee is composed of faculty and students who evaluate core courses on an ongoing basis and may recommend changes based on feedback from the program students and faculty. They also solicit and select topics and faculty for readings-based electives (NEU 221) to be offered each year.

Faculty Members

Binhai Zheng, Ph.D. (Chair)
Brenda Bloodgood, Ph.D.
Tim Gentner, Ph.D
Cory Miller, Ph.D.
John Reynolds, Ph.D.

Student Members

James Deng
Audrey Miglietta
Zoe Sheinkopf
Celina Nguyen
Liz Chamiec-Case (Chair)
Sheila Steiner
Vaidehi Gupta
Dante Fisher

Contact Info

For more information about the Curriculum Committee, please contact Liz Chamiec-Case.

The purpose of the Diversity Committee is to recruit, retain, and support students with identities and experiences previously underrepresented in the Neurosciences. We encourage diversity in the dimensions of race, ethnicity, nationality, socio-economic status, religion, sexual orientation, gender, disability, age, family educational history (first generation), and veteran status.

Recruitment

• We aim to retain the diversity of students in our program by advocating for students that fall within our diversity criteria throughout the admissions process.
• We aim to recruit admitted students through hosting an informal diversity social event during interviews.
• We aim to increase applications of students with diverse identities and experiences by recruiting at undergraduate conferences including SACNAS, ABRCMS, SfN ENDURE, and the California Diversity Forum.
• We aim to better recruit under-represented students by applying for grants that support undergrad and postbac research at UCSD. We aim to have this funding in place by 2021.

Retention and Support

• We aim to better support students by developing and maintaining a document with funding opportunities, basic eligibility and application information, and contact information of previously funded students. This document will also have information on identity-specific institutional resources and organizations.
• We aim to better support students by providing resources (materials and contacts) related to the institutional parental and health leave policies.
• We aim to collaborate with the Peer Advising Committee to build a more supportive environment with a range of resources.

Faculty Members

Christina Gremel, Ph.D. (Co-Chair)
Lara Rangel, Ph.D. (Co-Chair)
Yishi Jin, Ph.D.
Stefan Leutgeb, Ph.D.    
Gentry Patrick, Ph.D.

Student Members

Cynthia Nyongesa *co-chair
Jillybeth Burgado *co-chair
Kevin White Jr.
Elischa Sanders
Jess Haley
Ryan Golden
Xiaochun Cai
Daniela Cassataro
Meghan Rossi
Emily Baltz
Chris Lee
Vivian Ko
Emma Boyd
Mini Contreras
Chiaki Santiago
Bri Marsh
Jennifer Jensen
Micheal Preston
Oren Wilcox
Melonie Vaughn
Caroline Jia
Ricardo Lozoya
Kween Agba
Ray Miranda
JC Gorman
Blanca Martin
Grace Padilla
Iris Garcia-Pak
Joyce Tran
James Deng
Louise Stolz
Jeremy CY Lin
Jacky Mosko
Yuru Song
Anja Payne
Norah Al-Azzam
Hilario Vasquez-Perez
Ro Sandoval
Ilya Verzhbinsky
Diana Smith
Selena Gonzalez
Anousheh Bakhti-Suroosh
Joanna Eckhardt
Andrew Bender
Ben Roberts
__
Abbey Green
Hanhee Jo
Cuiling He
Ali Rigby
Lora Khatib
Jianna Cressy
Lauren Ostrowski
Anna McTigue
Sara Zimmerman
Jasmine Kaduthodil
Carlos Escalante Vera
Vanessa Martin
Camilo Londono
Jessica Arzavala
Quetzal Flores-Ramirez

Contact Info

For more information about the Diversity Committee, please contact Jillybeth Burgado or Cynthia Nyongesa.

The purpose of the Executive Committee is to set the policies and guidelines that govern the UCSD Neurosciences Graduate Program. This committee oversees a broad range of issues affecting the program including general administration, the distribution of financial and human resources, as well as activities and events involving NGP faculty and students. The Executive Committee is comprised of a group of faculty and 2 student members who participate in quarterly meetings. Student members of the Executive Committee are tasked with recording meeting minutes, speaking on behalf of NGP students on matters such as stipends, as well as introducing new committees and amending current ones.

Faculty Members

Tim Gentner, Ph.D. (Chair)
Gentry Patrick, Ph.D. (Vice-Chair)
Brenda Bloodgood, Ph.D.
Jim Brewer, Ph.D.
Ed Callaway, Ph.D.
Andrea Chiba, Ph.D.
Jerold Chun, M.D., Ph.D.
Holly Cline, Ph.D.
Fred Gage, Ph.D.
Shelley Halpain, Ph.D.
Jeff Isaacson, Ph.D.
Yishi Jin, Ph.D.
Harvey Karten, M.D. (Senior Advisor)
William Kristan, Ph.D.
Jill Leutgeb, Ph.D.
William C. Mobley, M.D., Ph.D.
Allen Ryan, Ph.D.
John Serences, Ph.D.
Brad Voytek, Ph.D.
Binhai Zheng, Ph.D

Student Members

Emily Baltz 
Chiaki Santiago 

Jacky Mosko

Contact Info

For more information about the Executive Committee, please contact Chiaki Santiago, Emily Baltz, or Jacky Mosko.

The purpose of the Graduate and Professional Student Association is to represent the interests of graduate and professional students on campus, locally, statewide, and on national levels. Through activities and programming, GPSA aims to enrich the lives of students and advance their interests politically, academically, and socially to help create a better academic and non-academic life at UC San Diego. The Neurosciences Graduate Program has two council members that represent the program at GPSA meetings.

Student Members

Dave Sievert
Isabel Costantino
Emma Spillman (Proxy)

Contact Info

For more information about the Graduate and Professional Student Association please contact Chiaki Santiago or visit the GSA website.

The purpose of the Interview Week Committee is to support the Neurosciences Graduate Program Coordinators in planning the logistics and events that take place when prospective students visit UCSD during interview week. Housing, meals and transportation for the applicants are arranged, as well as tours, entertainment, and opportunities for applicants to meet current students and faculty in the program.

Faculty Members

Sreekanth Chalasani, Ph.D. (Chair)
Giordano Lippi, Ph.D.
Francesca Telese, Ph.D.

Student Members

Jess Du
Chris Lee
Andrew Bender
Caroline Jia
Michael Preston
Jillybeth Burgado
Lauren Stanwicks
Trevor McPherson
Jeremy CY Lin
Kween Agba
Sheila Steiner
Ray Miranda
Iris Garcia-Pak
Joyce Tran
Yuru Song
Norah Al-Azzam
Kevin Gonzalez
Ro Sandoval
Liz Chamiec-Case
Hilario Vasquez-Perez
Joanna Eckhardt
Jacky Mosko
Abbey Green
Anna McTigue
Sierra Wilson
Ali Rigby
Dante Fisher
Michaela Cullum-Doyle
Clara Wolfe
Jianna Cressy
David Sievert

Contact Info

For more information about the Interview Week Committee, please contact Chiaki Santiago.

The purpose of the Sports & Recreation Committee is to promote student well-being and strengthen our community through team-building sports and recreational activities. We aim to facilitate recreational engagement for students with interests in a wide variety of physical activities and levels of competition by organizing program-only practices and games, as well as organizing intramural sports teams and cross-departmental events.

Student Members

Seeking czar for sports
Andrew Bender (co-czar)
Jack Olmstead
Louise Stolz
Blanca Martin
JC Gorman
Christian Cazares
Kween Agba (co-czar)
Isabel Costantino
Shuangquan Feng
Jeremy CY Lin
Hilario Vasquez-Perez
Ben Roberts
Ilya Verzhbinsky
Stella Yuan
Joanna Eckhardt
Morgan Fitzgerald
Vanessa Martin 
Camilo Londono
Jessica Arzavala
Lora Khatib
Oren Wilcox
MK Duff
Meghan Rhossi

Contact Info

For more information about the Sports & Recreation Committee, please contact Andrew Bender.

The purpose of the Minor Proposition Committee is to facilitate the Minor Proposition exam, a program requirement for second year students. Committee members participate in a mock NIH study section to score the F30/F31 proposals submitted by second year students. Committee members also then listen to an oral defense of the proposals for which they were primary, secondary, or tertiary reviewer. 

Faculty Members

Jared Young, Ph.D. (Chair)
Richard Daneman, Ph.D.
Tina Gremel, Ph.D.
Donna Gruol, Ph.D.
William Mobley, M.D., Ph.D. (Instructor and Member)
Nick Oesch, Ph.D.
Robert Rissman, Ph.D.
Cory Root, Ph.D.
John Serences, Ph.D. (Instructor only)
Eric Zorrilla, Ph.D.

Student Teaching Assistant

Catie Profaci

Contact Info

For more information about the Minor Proposition Committee, please contact Jared Young.

The purpose of the Peer Advising Committee is to support the Neurosciences Graduate Program student experience. The committee organizes events that provide perspective and guidance on milestones or common experiences that students encounter along their PhD path.

Student Members

Louise Stolz (director)
Emily Baltz (off campus lead)
Jess Du
Ryan Golden
Seraphina Solders
Shannan McClain
Anja Payne
Peter Fenton
Marley Rossa
Andre DeSouza
Haylie Romero
Jennifer Jensen
Sydney Smith
Oren Wilcox
Grace Padilla
Jacky Mosko (peer lunch: Salk)
Anousheh Bakhti-Suroosh
Trevor McPherson
Joyce Tran (family pod lead)
Bri Marsh (off campus lead)
Kween Agba
Chiaki Santiago (Success Through Failure Panel Team Lead)
Ro Sandoval
Diana Smith
Megan Anderson (name in the hat for mental health team lead)
Liz Chamiec-Case
Celina Nguyen

Contact Info

For more information about the Peer-Advising Committee, please contact Emily Baltz, Jess Du, Ryan Golden, or Seraphina Solders.

The purpose of the Retreat Committee is to plan and coordinate an annual department wide event that celebrates the achievements and ongoing endeavors of students and faculty in the UCSD Neurosciences Graduate Program community. Retreat includes a robust scientific symposium, forums for discussion, and an opportunity for the entire department to bond over a weekend of socializing.

Faculty Members

Matt Banghart, Ph.D. (Co-Chair)
Marcus Benna, Ph.D. (Co-Chair)

Student Members

Joseph Herdy
Jacob Garrett
Jess Du
Celina Nguyen
Kevin Gonzalez
Kween Agba
Raymundo Miranda
Joyce Tran
Anousheh Bakhti-suroosh
Jacky Mosko
Meghan Rossi
Cynthia Nyongesa

Contact Info

For more information about the Retreat Committee please contact Joseph Herdy.

The purpose of the Seminar Dining Committee is to assign students to attend lunches and dinners with speakers of the Neurosciences Graduate Program Seminar Series. Prior to the start of the Seminar Series, student members survey NGP students for their preferences and are invited to attend approximately one lunch and one dinner per year. Student members of this committee attend a significant proportion (1/3 to 1/2) of lunches and are responsible for paying for these meals using tickets provided by the NGP Coordinators.

Student Members (aka Lunch Czars)

Kween Agba
JC Gorman

The purpose of the Seminar Series Committee is to plan and execute the weekly Neurosciences Graduate Program Seminar Series. Duties include surveying the UCSD Neurosciences community for speaker nominations, choosing speakers with diverse research and demographics, inviting and scheduling speakers, and assigning student hosts to invited speakers.

Faculty Members

Joseph Gleeson, M.D. (Chair)
Matt Banghart, Ph.D.
Rich Daneman, Ph.D.
Tina Gremel, Ph.D.
Jill Leutgeb, Ph.D.  
Lara Rangel, Ph.D.

Student Members

Oren Wilcox

Trevor McPherson

Ricky Lozoya

Contact Info

For more information about the Seminar Series Committee, please contact Emily Baltz or take a look at the schedule for this year's Neurosciences Graduate Program Seminar Series.

The purpose of the Social Committee is to provide a schedule of inclusive and enjoyable social events to foster community pride and camaraderie. Throughout the year, we organize informal social functions for members of the NGP community as well as partner with other UCSD graduate programs in joint events. Events include a post-Bootcamp party, a Halloween party (typically co-hosted with BMS or Biology graduate students), and quarterly happy hours with faculty and program administrators.

Student Members

Grace Padilla (co-chair)
Sydney Smith
Joyce Tran
Meghan Rossi
Haylie Romero
Hilario Vasquez-Perez
Jacky Mosko (chair)
Joanna Eckhardt
Ray Miranda
Carlos Escalante-Vera
Jessica Arzavala
Michaela Cullum - Doyle
Lora Khatib
Clara Wolfe
Sara Zimmerman
Anousheh Bakhti-suroosh
Vanessa Martin
Lauren Ostrowski

Contact Info

For more information about the Social Committee, please contact please contact Grace Padilla.

The purpose of the Social Media Committee is to connect members of the UCSD Neurosciences Graduate Program with each other and with other academics across social media platforms (e.g. Facebook and Twitter).

Student Members

JC Gorman (Chair) (instagram)
Minerva Contreras (Vice Chair)
Lauren Stanwicks
Sydney Smith
Emma Spillman (twitter)
Kween Agba
Raymundo Miranda
Marissa Garcia
Ali Rigby
Jianna Cressy

Contact Info

For more information about the Social Media Committee, please contact JC Gorman or Minerva Contrera or find us on Facebook and Twitter.