Personnel

                                             PI - Robert Kozol, PhD

                                                                    I am a neuroscientist that studies

                                                                    the development and function of the

                                                                    nervous system. As a Marine Biology

                                                                    undergrad, I fell in love with the

                                                                    functional specializations of deep

                                                                    sea fish. In graduate school, I pivoted

                                                                    to studying sensory deficits in

                                                                    genetic models of Autism Spectrum

Disorders. Following my doctorate, I transitioned to evolutionary medicine

and adopted the blind Mexican cavefish as a model for studying how genetic

variation drives the evolution of the brain and behaviors, and how

those findings translate to the function and malfunction of the vertebrate

brain.

Visiting Scholars

Zachary Harkinish-Murray

Zachary investigates odor perception and rheotaxis in cavefish. He received his Masters in Neuroscience from St. John's University in 2024 and is currently exploring PhD programs in Ecology and Evolution.

Hala AlGarni

Hala is determining how natural genetic mutations impact drug-receptor interactions and drug efficacy. Hala finished her masters in May 2025 and is now applying to biomedical doctoral programs for neuroscience.

Graduate Students

Agniva Sinha - M.S.

Agniva is studying how swimming kinematics vary across populations of A. mexicanus. Agniva joined the lab in January 2025 and has since established high-speed kinematic computational programs in the lab for use across several species of teleosts.

Kimberly Nelsen - M.S.

Kim is currently working on several projects related to drug-gene interactions, odor perception and consciousness. Kim joined the lab in the fall of 2025 as a Neuroscience student and looks to defend her master's thesis in spring 2027.

Christandlie Backer - M.S.

Chirstandlie is joining the lab in spring 2026.

Denise Marie l. Belmonte - M.S.

Chirstandlie is joining the lab in spring 2026.