Team

Benjamin Adam Samuels
Principal Investigator
Ben first studied Neuroscience as an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins. In 2006, he received his Ph.D. in Neurobiology in the lab of Li-Huei Tsai at Harvard. He then moved with Dr. Tsai to MIT and remained in the lab for one year as a postdoc. One of Ben’s projects with Dr. Tsai demonstrated that Cdk5-dependent phosphorylation of the MAGUK family member CASK is important for synapse development. Ben then joined the lab of Rene Hen at Columbia as a postdoc. In 2012 Ben received a K01 award from NIMH and became a Research Scientist at the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene (RFMH). One of Ben’s studies at Columbia/RFMH demonstrated that Serotonin 1A receptors in the dentate gyrus are necessary and sufficient for the beneficial effects of fluoxetine on behavior. In September 2015 the Samuels Lab opened in the Department of Psychology at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. The lab has received funding from NIMH, NINDS, NIA, and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation.

Allyson Bazer
Graduate Student

Andrew Dieterich
Graduate Student

Isabella Maita
Graduate Student

Mimi Phan, Ph.D.
Associate Research Professor
1) on the modulatory effects of stress and environment on rodent models of neurodevelopmental disorders.
2) on auditory plasticity/stability and perceptual functions in humans, non-human primates, rodents, and songbirds across the lifespan and pathologies. Epigenetic regulation of and developmental influences on sensorimotor learning and memory. Modeling of infant vocal learning.
ORCID Profile

Tonia Liu
Laboratory Manager
Alumni
Postdoctoral Fellows
Pu Hu, PhD | Postdoc 2017-2019
Alumni – Graduate Students
Graduate Students
Christine Yohn, PhD | Received PhD in May 2020
Alumni – Staff
Staff
Mark Gergues | Lab Manager/Tech 2016-2018
Zammam Saad | Lab Manager/Tech 2015-2016
Honors Undergraduates
Alumni - Honors Undergraduates
Alex Garino | Psych Honors Thesis (2018), Shors Award
Sophie Shifman | Interdisciplinary Honors Thesis (2018)
Taylor Anthony | Psych Honors Thesis (2019), Shors Award
Allyson Bazer | Psych Honors Thesis (2020), Shaw Award
Debbie Ma | Honors College Thesis (2020)
Sandra Ashamalla | CBN Honors Thesis (2020)
Karina Stech | Psychology Honors Thesis (2021)
Ivana Nikodijevic | Psychology Honors Thesis (2021)
Tonia Liu | Exercise Science Honors Thesis (2020)
Ria Soni | CBN Honors Thesis (2022)
Neeha Patibanda | Psych Honors Thesis (2022), Shors Award
Bobby Reisler | Psych Honors Thesis (2022)
Aayushma Patel | Psych Honors Thesis (2022)