Research Team
Research Team
Research Team
Christopher Knapp
PhD Graduate Student, Rowan-Virtua SOM and GSBS (2018-present)
Masters of Biomedical Sciences Student, Rowan University GSBS (2017-2018)
Education: Rowan University, B.S., Biological Sciences, 2017
Christopher is a PhD student at Rowan-Virtua SOM and GSBS. He received his B.S. from Rowan University in 2017, where he majored in Biological Sciences. In undergrad, Christopher concentrated in neuroscience and founded the Neuroscience Club, which sparked his interest in the neuroscience field. Christopher is currently studying the effects of repetitive mild traumatic brain injury on risk/reward decision making. Under the guidance of Dr. Navarra, Christopher has achieved several accomplishments including being a Neuroscience Scholars Program (NSP) Associate within the Society for Neuroscience, receiving a Travel Award to attend the 2022 International Behavioral Neuroscience Society Conference, and being invited twice to present a live presentation of his research at the Philadelphia Chapter for the Society for Neuroscience. Outside of the lab, Christopher can be found playing tennis, spending time with his friends, or at home playing with his two dogs, Kipper and Kirby.
Honors and Awards:
2023 Travel Award, Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized
Scientists (ABRCMS)
2023 Diversity Award, National Neurotrauma Society
2022 Travel Award, Rowan Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
2022 Travel Award, International Behavioral Neuroscience Society
2021 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, Rowan GSBS Fall Research
Retreat
2020 Neuroscience Scholars Program Associate, Society for Neuroscience
Eleni Papadopoulos
DO/PhD Student, Rowan Virtua SOM and GSBS (2022-present)
Summer Medical Research Fellowship, Rowan-Virtua SOM (Summer 2021)
Medical Student Researcher, Rowan-Virtua SOM (2020-2022)
Eleni is a PhD student at Rowan-Virtua SOM and GSBS pursing a dual DO/PhD degree. Eleni is currently working with Dr. Navarra to examine the effects of methylphenidate on the levels of catecholamine neurotransmitter regulatory proteins and risk/reward decision making of rodents following traumatic brain injury. She graduated with a B.A. from Connecticut College in 2017, where she majored in molecular and cellular biology and a minor in psychology. Prior to applying to medical school, she took three gaps years to work as a research technician conducting lung cancer research at NYU School of Medicine and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) at Weill Cornell Medicine. Outside of the lab, Eleni likes being active by regularly going to gym classes and enjoys being outdoors getting some sunshine whenever she has the time.
Honors and Awards:
2023 Recipient of a Post Graduate Scholarship from the Hellenic Medical Society
of New York
2023 3rd place in Bioss Antibodies Neuroscience Grant
2023 2nd place graduate student poster competition at the Mid-Atlantic
Pharmacological Society
2023 1st place in the junior graduate student poster competition at the
Rowan-Virtua STBES Fall Retreat
2023 Neuroscience Scholars Program Associate, Society for Neuroscience
2023 Recipient of the Graduate Student Travel Fund Competition
School of Graduate Studies at Rowan University
2022 Poster winner, The American Osteopathic Association’s Osteopathic Medical
Conference and Exposition
2022 Future in Neurologic Research Scholarship to attend the Annual Meeting
The American Academy of Neurology
2021 1st place in Basic Science Oral Presentations, The National Student
Osteopathic Medical Association Research Symposium
Anna Abrimian
Summer Medical Research Fellowship, Rowan-Virtua SOM (Summer 2023)
Medical Student Research, Rowan-Virtua SOM (2022-present)
Anna is a medical student at Rowan-Virtua SOM. She graduated with a B.A. from The College of New Jersey in 2020 where she double majored in Psychology and Chemistry. She conducted cognitive neuroscience and organic/biochemical research during her undergraduate studies and took two gap years afterwards to work as a research technician at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School studying opioid addiction. Anna is currently working as a Medical Student Research Assistant with Dr. Navarra to examine the effects of traumatic brain injury and psychostimulant treatment on the norepinephrine transporter and other catecholamine regulatory proteins within the prefrontal cortex. A portion of this work was completed during her Summer Medical Research Fellowship award from Rowan-Virtua SOM. Outside the lab, Anna likes taking spin classes, exploring new restaurants, and painting.
Past Team Members
Jil Modi
Summer Medical Research Fellowship, Rowan-Virtua SOM (Summer 2023)
Medical Student, Rowan-Virtua SOM (2023-present)
Jil is a medical student at Rowan-Virtua SOM. She graduated with a B.A. from Rutgers University-New Brunswick in 2022 where she majored in Cell Biology and Neuroscience and minored in Psychology. She conducted molecular biology and biochemistry research during her undergraduate studies to understand the neurological mechanisms that drive the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. Jil was awarded a Summer Medical Research Fellowship from Rowan-Virtua SOM to work with Dr. Navarra and examine the effects of traumatic brain injury on the relative density of Dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH) fibers and norepinephrine transporter fibers (NET) within the orbitofrontal cortex. Outside of the lab, Jil likes to travel, try new recipes, and hike.
Brooke Fallon
Masters of Biomedical Sciences Student, Rowan University GSBS & Student Research Technician (2018-2020)
Brooke completed her MBS at Rowan GSBS in May 2020 and has gone directly onto medical school at Rowan SOM to fulfill her dreams of becoming a Doctor. Brooke grew up in a small town at the beach in NJ - most people know where she grew up as "LBI" or Long Beach Island. Brooke graduated from Rowan University in 2018 with a B.S. in Biochemistry, minor in Biology, and a concentration in Pre-Medical studies. Brooke has participated in neuroscience research since undergrad - working in Dr. Thomas Keck's lab where she utilized radioligand binding assays to characterize drug actions at dopamine D2, D3, and D4 receptors. She worked with Dr. Navarra to characterize psychostimulant drug actions and experimental brain injuries on measures of executive function in rodents. Outside of school and the lab, you can find Brooke riding horses, spending time with her friends and family, or playing with her pets. She also enjoys traveling and hopes to travel the world some day!
Aschnher Dubuisson
Masters of Biomedical Sciences Student, Rowan University GSBS (Fall 2018-Spring 2019)
Aschnher is a medical student at the School of Podiatric Medicine at Temple University. Asch was born in Haiti and moved to the United States when he was 15 years old. He graduated Rutgers University with a B.A. in Biological sciences in 2017. He is passionate about scientific innovation and is driven towards anything that provides unique and new experiences, which is why he chose Podiatric Medicine. Asch believes this career path will allow him to explore new methods to help the world feel better on their own two feet, impacting overall quality of life, emotionally, mentally, and physically. Asch assisted Dr. Navarra on a project investigating the effects of experimental brain injury on measures of cognitive flexibility in rodents. He’d tell you his greatest skill he fostered while working in the lab is patience. Asch is a huge soccer fan and would like to visit all of the major stadiums around the world!
Quy Nguyen
Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE; Summer 2018), Rowan University
Quy completed his B.A. in Biology at Rowan University in 2019, where he investigated recombinant production of Elastin Like Polypeptide as biomaterial for 3D bioprinting. In order to gain more experience in lab work, Quy joined Rowan SOM Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program and worked with Dr. Waterhouse and Dr. Navarra, evaluating the effects of a selective dopamine D3 agonist/norepinephrine transporter inhibitor on cognitive flexibility in rodents and also performed basic histology. He began the Ph.D. Program in the Graduate School of Biomedical Studies at Rowan University SOM in Fall 2020. Outside of research and studying, Quy is a martial arts enthusiast. He is training in a variety of martial arts, but his favorite is Wing Tsun.
Olatunde Kuponiyi
Masters of Biomedical Sciences Student, Rowan University GSBS (Spring Semester 2018)