Our Team

VP, Communications

Shirley is a second-year PhD student in the Neurobiology & Behavior program at Columbia, where she studies the neural mechanisms and circuitry by which excess striatal dopamine induces hallucinations. Shirley joined CUNO in 2023 and is now the Vice President of Communications. Shirley maintains the CUNO website and quarterly newsletters, in addition to helping plan Saturday Science events. Additionally, Shirley enjoys listening to music, playing musical instruments, reading and trying out different food with friends.

VP, Late Night Science

Sam is a second-year graduate student in the Neurobiology and Behavior PhD program, advised by Dr. Hemali Phatnani. She is in charge of Public Relations for LNS To help spread the word about events and what LNS does. In her free time, Sam loves going to concerts, reading, and crocheting.

Co-President

Risa is a PhD student in the Neurobiology & Behavior Program at Columbia, where she studies the aging and diseased nervous system. She joined CUNO in 2020 and worked primarily with the Saturday Science and Curriculum Development teams to develop neuroscience lessons for NYC children. Now, she is excited to be CUNO Co-President with Briana! Risa hopes that CUNO efforts will make science more accessible to more people, thereby increasing public interest and support for science.

VP, Late Night Science

Nathan is a PhD student in the Neurobiology & Behavior program at Columbia, where he studies how auditory memories guide vocal learning in zebra finches. Nathan leads the media branch of Late Night Science. He is excited to make science more accessible to a wider audience, especially those traditionally underserved by the scientific community. In his free time, Nathan is an avid climber and also enjoys playing soccer and drumming.

VP, Curriculum

Justin is a PhD student in the Neurobiology & Behavior program at Columbia, where he studies the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying hallucinations. Justin and the Curriculum Development Team design lesson plans and interactive activities for classroom visits and Saturday Science. He also maintains CUNO’s Virtual Educational Resource Database.

VP, Late Night Science

John is a PhD student in the Neurobiology & Behavior program at Columbia. He runs the Events team as part of Late Night Science because he wants to show people what life in science is really like. John also enjoys going to concerts and eating pretzels.

Co-President

Briana is a PhD student in the Neurobiology & Behavior Program at Columbia, where she studies how motherhood changes the brain and has an interest in science policy. Briana joined CUNO in 2020, when she began volunteering for Saturday Science and helping to translate existing curriculum from English to Spanish. She then spent 2 years as Co-Vice President of Saturday Science, and is now excited to be Co-President of CUNO with Risa! Briana is passionate about outreach because events like Saturday Science were very influential in her path to becoming a scientist, and she hopes to provide such inspirational opportunities to the next generation. 

VP, Saturday Science

Arnav is a second-year PhD student in the Neurobiology & Behavior program at Columbia, currently working with Lea Duncker on how RNNs deal with noise. Arnav is Vice President of Saturday Science along with Aidan, and also helps out with the Late Night Science media team. Outside of science, Arnav enjoys hanging out with animals, learning languages, and staring wistfully over large bodies of water.

VP, Spanish Programming

Amanda is a PhD student in the Neurobiology and Behavior Program at Columbia. She joined CUNO in 2021 and is now Vice President of CUNO Spanish. Amanda looks forward to engaging with Spanish-speaking communities in NYC and developing fun brain science activities that transcend language barriers.

Amanda es una estudiante doctoral en el programa de Neurobiología y Comportamiento en Columbia. Se unió a CUNO en 2021 y ahora es Vice Presidenta de CUNO en Español. Amanda espera poder compartir con las comunidades hispanohablantes en NYC y desarrollar actividades divertidas sobre el cerebro que trasciendan barreras de lenguaje.

VP, Classroom Visits

Aleks is an MD-PhD student in the Neurobiology and Behavior program at Columbia, where she studies how synapses develop in the cerebral cortex and how the timing of this process may play a role in neurodevelopmental diseases. Aleks is excited to share her interest in neuroscience with schools across NYC.

VP, Saturday Science

Aidan is a PhD student in the Integrated Cellular, Molecular, Biomedical Studies Program at Columbia, where he studies disease and inflammation of the nervous system. He joined CUNO when he first came to Columbia in 2023 and now is Vice President of Saturday Science. Aidan is excited to continue working with a passionate team of volunteers to develop interactive science activities and programs for NYC children and families to enjoy.

VP, Late Night Science

Abhi Shah is a third-year graduate student in the Neurobiology and Behavior program, co-advised by professors Attila Losonczy and Stefano Fusi. In his research, Abhi investigates how circuit structure in the hippocampus determines the computational underpinnings of learning and memory. In his free time, Abhi enjoys cooking, making music, and going down useless Wikipedia rabbitholes for extended periods of time.