Our Team and former lab members

Laura Volpicelli-Daley, PhD, Associate Professor Neurology

Laura grew up in Albuquerque, NM, and studied Math and English Literature in college. Her PhD in Neuroscience was earned at Emory University in the lab of Allan Levey, MD, PhD expert in Alzheimer’s disease and dementias. She also trained in Cell Biology at Yale University and Neurodegenerative disease at the University of Pennsylvania. She is an Associate Professor in Neurology with tenure at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and Parkinson Association of Alabama Endowed Professor. She is course director of Graduate Neuroanatomy, and Fundamentals of basic science for first year MD/PhD students. She loves being a band mom, sarcastic humor, and is addicted to chocolate and coffee. Her Hogwarts House is Ravenclaw and her Patronus is a Brown Owl.

Vijay Singh, PhD, Scientist I

Vijay was awarded the Parkinson’s Foundation postdoctoral fellowship. He is from Uttarakhand, India and did his PhD in Life Sciences at the Institute of Microbial Technology, in Chandigarh, India. An interest in neurodegenerative diseases prompted him to join the Volpicelli lab as a postdoctoral fellow. His expertise is in localization and trafficking of LRRK2 and its effectors. In his spare time, he loves doing photography. His Hogwarts house is Hufflepuff and his patronus is Elephant.

Lauren Fielding, Biochem, Structural Biology PhD Student

Lauren grew up between San Diego, Singapore, and Lynchburg, Tennessee. She earned a degree in Biochemistry from Freed Hardeman University. After graduation, she moved to Birmingham to pursue a PhD. One of her passions is being in the kitchen. From whipping up fancy dinners, making tasty cappuccinos, and baking desserts, she loves to create new things. In our lab, she is interested in amplifying diseased proteins from patients with synucleinopathies. Her Hogwarts house is Ravenclaw and her patronus is deerhound.

Cole Pena, Cell, Molecular, Dev Biology PhD Student

Cole grew up in Apex, North Carolina and earned a BS in Biochemistry at East Carolina University in 2020. He became interested in Parkinson’s research because his grandfather had the disease and he saw that there were a lot of unanswered questions. After undergrad, he worked in a Parkinson’s disease lab at Duke University where he fell in love with the work. It was there he decided he was going to come to UAB to pursue a PhD with the goal of pushing Parkinson’s research forward. In our lab he is interested in exploring the role of lysosomes in GBA1 L444P Parkinson’s disease. When he is not hitting the books and pushing the pipets he loves watching and playing soccer, hanging out with friends, and tasting the culinary creations of his lab mates. His Hogwarts house Gryffindor and his Patronus is an Erumpent.

Arielle Manabat, Biochem, Structural Biology PhD Student

Arielle grew up in Orlando, FL. She attended Belmont University where she earned a B.S. in Neuroscience with a minor in Chemistry. She studied Parkinson’s disease at the Purdue . She is currently focusing on how the GBA1L444P mutation contributes to cognitive decline in Parkinson’s disease. In her free time, she loves playing tennis, or cooking her grandmother’s homemade potsticker recipe. Her Hogwarts house is Ravenclaw and her patronus is black mamba.

Charlotte Franziska Brzozowski, Neuroscience PhD Student

Charlie grew up in Ravensburg, a small town in the most beautiful part of Germany. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry at the University of Ulm, and a Master’s from the University of Tuebingen. Charlie is interested in how pathologic aggregates of alpha-synuclein impair cortico-striatal transmission. In her free time, she likes to do all kind of outdoor activities, and traveling. She speaks five languages. Charlie introduced us to Milka chocolate for which we are very grateful. Her Hogwarts house is Slytherin and her patronus is magpie.

Zoe Fokakis, Neuroscience MSTP Student

Zoe is originally from Hattiesburg, MS, and attended Mississippi State University with majors in Chemistry and Psychology. At UAB, she is co-mentored by Laura and Dr. Andrew Hardaway. Her research interest is investigating the role of glutamatergic projections from the cortex to the striatum in motor and cognitive symptoms in PD. Zoe is the outreach co-chair for the UAB chapter of the American Physician Scientist Association and loves teaching kids about how fun science is. The rest of her time is spent baking, going to trivia nights, or relaxing at home with her two cats, Dolly and Skillet. Her Hogwarts house is Slytherin and her patronus is a shrew.

Marissa Menard, Lab Manager

Marissa grew up in Burlington, VT and graduated from the University of Vermont with degrees in Biochemistry, Molecular Genetics. Marissa single handedly keeps the lab running, and is an expert at immunohistochemistry techniques. She loves sports (go Eagles!) and animals- especially cats (which is sad, but we have accepted it). She can frequently be found wearing gym clothes, however is not known to frequent the gym. Her Hogwarts House is Slytherin and her Patronus is a Mastiff.

Harshita Challa, Neuroscience Undergraduate student

Harshita is an undergraduate Neuroscience honors student from Milton, Georgia, minoring Chemistry and Spanish. She is also a member of the Early Medical School Acceptance Program and UAB’s BlazaRaas dance team. In her free time, she enjoys going on long hikes and listening to podcasts about literally anything (most recently it’s been conspiracy theories). Her Hogwarts house is Ravenclaw and her patronus is calico cat.

Eli Berry, Neuroscience Undergraduate student

Eli Berry is from Bessemer, AL and is an undergraduate Neuroscience honors student. He is a patient care tech at the Medical West Freestanding ER. He is a Star Wars/Marvel Fan. He is the starting outside on the UAB men’s volleyball team and enjoys playing basketball and soccer at the rec center. His Hogwarts House is Ravenclaw and his patronus is a dolphin.

Former Trainees

Casey Mahoney, PhD was a Neuroscience Theme graduate student, Parkinson’s Association of Alabama Scholar, and NIH F31 fellow. She is doing postdoctoral training at the NIH.

Nolwazi Gcwensa, PhD was a Neuroscience Theme graduate student, and Alzheimer’s of Central Alabama Scholar. She will be looking for position in industry in her home country, South Africa.

Dreson Russell was a Neuroscience Theme undergraduate student. He is now a medical student at UAB.

Sumedha Bobba was a Neuroscience Honors undergraduate student, Presidential Scholar and Ms. UAB. She is now a medical student at UAB.

Kahliah Long was an undergraduate Biology student. She is earning a Master’s degree at UAB.

Abi Kamath was a Neuroscience Honors undergraduate student and Barry Goldwater scholar. He is now a medical student at UAB.

Drake Thrasher, MS was a Researcher III. While in the lab, he earned a Master’s in Multidisciplinary Biomedical Sciences with a concentration in Bioinformatics. He is an Informatics Analyst II in the department of Pathology.

Rachel Coleman Curtiss, PhD received an American Parkinson’s Disease postdoctoral award. She is currently a Research Biologist at Bio Cryst Pharmaceuticals.

D. Luke Fisher, MD, PhD received an R25 NINDS Research Program for Residents award to perform research in the lab. After completing his UAB Neurology residency he moved to UCSF for a fellowship in cognitive Neurology.

Lindsay Stoyka, MD, PhD was awarded a F30 MSTP fellowship while in the lab. She defended her thesis project “Role of endogenous tau in Lewy-like pathology” in June 2020. She is a Neurology resident at University of Michigan.

Virginia Cobbs graduated from Mountain Brook High School and spent a gap year in the lab. She currently an undergraduate at Princeton University.

Tiara Janado was an Neuroscience Honors undergraduate student, and is currently taking a gap year before applying for medical school.

Barra Hijaz was a Neuroscience Honors undergraduate student and is a medical student at Harvard University.

Anner Harris was a UAB PREP scholar and is a PhD student at University of Texas in San Antonio.

Jennifer Freire was a UAB PREP scholar and is a PhD student at Boston University.

Allen Yazdi was a Honors Biomedical undergraduate student and is currently a medical student at UAB.

Nadia Anabtawi was a Neuroscience Honors undergraduate student and is currently a medical student at UAB.

Aseel Dib was a Neuroscience Honors undergraduate student and is a medical student at UAB.

Neena John was a Neuroscience Honors undergraduate student and is a medical student at University of Tennessee Health Science Center.