Research Team

Current Members

Katelyn Martino (Rowan Undergraduate, Technician) 

Katie joined the lab in September 2022 as an undergraduate volunteer. Katie has led the project to study the effects of neurotrophins on working memory after mild traumatic brain injury. Katie has presented these data at local neuroscience conferences and the Society for Neuroscience in 2023. Katie will be graduating in the spring of 2024 and is actively applying to graduate schools.   

Sarah Marcum (Masters of Biomedical Sciences at RowanSOM) 

Sarah has been a member of the lab since September of 2023. Frequently mistaken for a medical student, she is championing a research project to assess EEG of individuals presenting with mild traumatic brain injury in the emergency departments of Virtua Hospitals. Sarah is also working with Katie to study the effects of neurotrophins on working memory after mild traumatic brain injury.  

Audrey Tuckerman (Rowan Undergraduate, Volunteer)

Audrey began working in the lab in August of 2024 to study the effects of neurotrophins on working memory after mild traumatic brain injury. She is continuing in the lab for 2024 to examine the neuroanatomical changes in peptide systems in the brain following mild traumatic brain injury. 

Ashley Thayaparan (D.O. Student - Rowan SOM, Technician)

Ashley began working in the lab in August of 2024 to study the effects of neurotrophins on working memory after mild traumatic brain injury. Working with Katie, Ashley has helped identify the receptor mechanisms involved in the procognitive actions of our target peptide neurotrophins.

Ajay Donthula (High School Volunteer)

Ajay is a junior at Bordentown Regional High School. He began working remotely in August 2023 with Isha to prepare and analyze rodent EEG data to determine features and patterns of brain activity that can predict concussion and the efficacy of Methylphenidate (Ritalin) as a treatment for mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Isha Bhatia (High School Volunteer)

Isha is a sophomore at Morris Hills High School and is working remotely with Ajay on the same project to prepare and analyze rodent EEG data. 

2024 Summer Medical Research Fellowship Students 

Kishan Bulsara

Deeksha Kommireddi

Sami Dakhel 

Past Members

Alexis Foschini (SURE Program, Lead technician)

Alexis graduated from Rowan University in May 2019 with a bachelor's degree in Biology. Alexis joined the Devilbiss laboratory in Summer 2018 while taking part in a Summer Undergraduate Research Experience and returned in Fall 2019. Alexis continued to work on a project focused on investigating to ability of methylphenidate to normalize neurotransmitter levels in the prefrontal cortex post mild traumatic brain injury. She is now a D.O. student at Rowan SOM.

Ben Selover (Masters of Pharmaceutical Sciences)

Benjamin Selover graduated from Rowan University in 2018 with a degree in chemistry and continued his education by pursuing a master's in pharmaceutical sciences.  His interests include HPLC method development, mass spectroscopy, and electrochemical detection. He has graduated and is currently working in the industry on new separation methods and chromatography column design.  

Leah Horvat (Masters of Pharmaceutical Sciences)

Leah graduated from Rowan University in May 2019 with a degree in Biochemistry. Leah became a teaching and research fellow at Rowan University in the fall of 2019, and she graduated with a Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences from Rowan University. Leah's project was focused on investigating noradrenergic catecholamine system function following repeated mild traumatic brain injury. 

Arush Nakhre (SMRF Program)

Arush completed his SMRF program in the lab to initially examine the dose-response of a new neurotrophin activator on working memory after mild traumatic brain injury. Arush also examined histological markers of axonal injury (Neurosilver) and noradrenergic fiber integrity (dopamine-beta-hydroxylase immunohistochemistry) to determine the extent of axonal injury in the corpus callosum, cingulum, hippocampus, and cortical regions following repeated mild traumatic brain injury.

Ria Mittal (SMRF Program) 

Ria completed her SMRF program in the lab to initially examine the efficacy of Methylphenidate (Ritalin) as a treatment for mild Traumatic Brain Injury. She collected and initially analyzed the pilot rodent EEG data being analyzed by current students. 

Allyson Stratton (Masters of Biomedical Sciences)
Arwa Muhamed (Rowan Undergraduate)
Edward Lai (SMRF Program)
Joseph Kalish (Masters of Biomedical Sciences)
Katie Clune (Masters of Biomedical Sciences)
Maurice Lindner-Jackson (Research Assistant)
Najmulsahar Binnat (SMRF Program)
Rachael Wilhelm (Rowan Undergraduate)
Pruthvi Pediredla (Masters of Biomedical Sciences)
Rahul Parekh (Masters of Biomedical Sciences)
Reaz Uddin (Masters of Biomedical Sciences)
Lindsay Cave (SURE Program)
Evan Bohan (SURE Program)
Ariful Islam (Ph.D. Student)
Adesewa Adewusi (Masters of Biomedical Sciences)
Haizhen Yang (Masters of Biomedical Sciences)
Katie Clune  (Masters of Biomedical Sciences)
Kristina Shah (Masters of Biomedical Sciences)
Lateefat Olawore (Masters of Biomedical Sciences)
Ali Siddiqui (Masters of Biomedical Sciences)