People
Russell Morton
My lab is interested in the underlying cellular and physiological mechanism that underlie concussions or mild traumatic brain injuries. We often utilize multi-modal approaches like in-vivo electrophysiology, 2P imaging, or miniature microscopes in combination with behavioral tasks in awake and behaving animals.
Devon Hatcher
Devon originally joined my lab as part of the UNM undergraduate pipeline network and established a ladder walk system that is used to assess acute behavioral deficits following mild traumatic brain injuries. We have been fortunate to recruit Devon to our UNM BSGP and I am proud to have Devon back in the lab as a graduate student.
Brandi Hess
Brandi joined my lab as an undergraduate as part of the UNM URISE program. Brandi was instrumental in implementing in-vivo electrophysiology recordings of SDs. Brandi has joined our UNM BSGP 2024 cohort and will hopefully rejoin the lab as a graduate student.
Raycarlo Labor-Ramirez
Raycarlo joined my lab as an undergraduate and has been investigating the role of CBD in cerebral blood flow. Raycarlo is testing the ability of CBD to promote cerebral blood flow following mTBI-induced SDs. Raycarlo is an incredibly bright student and is currently pursuing medical school.
Taha Abdeljawad
Taha is an undergraduate at UNM and his project has been investigating the cerebral blood flow responses following mTBIs. Taha has his sights on medical school but enjoys the research aspect. j
Kiya Hamar
Kiya is from Western New Mexico University but joined my lab as a NISE scholar for the summer of 2024. Kiya's project is focused on using visual event related potentials as a way to measure cortical network dysfunction following mTBIs.
Previous Members
Natalie Pinkowski
Natalie Pinkowski
Natalie Pinkowski
Natalie was a graduate student in my laboratory and investigated the behavioral and cognitive deficits during the acute phase of mTBI injuries. Natalie is currently a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA in laboratory of Tiffany Greco.
Myah McDonald
Natalie Pinkowski
Natalie Pinkowski
Myah investigated the cortical network function following mTBI-induced SDs. Myah was an undergraduate at the University of New Mexico and part of the Women's Golf team. Myah is currently pursuing medical school.
Maiya Martinez
Natalie Pinkowski
Maiya Martinez
Maiya's project investigated the role of SDs in the acute behavioral deficits of mTBIs. Maiya pharmacologically blocked the SDs with memantine and assessed the acute behavior. Maiya was part of the undergraduate pipeline network at the University of New Mexico.
Katie McCurdy
Sydney Carpentier
Maiya Martinez
Katie established that mTBI induced spreading depolarizations are sensitive to pharmacological inhibition with ketamine and is currently investigating the vulnerable acute period of mTBIs. Katie is currently an undergraduate at the University of New Mexico majoring in Psycology.
Johann Pacheco
Sydney Carpentier
Sydney Carpentier
Johann was instrumental in establishing the presence of spreading depolarizations following a mild traumatic brain injury in my laboratory. Johann is currently in medical school at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.
Sydney Carpentier
Sydney Carpentier
Sydney Carpentier
Sydney investigated the pathological effects of repeated mild Traumatic Brain injuries. Sydney is currently a undergraduate student at California State University Long Beach majoring in Psycology and is currently applying to graduate schools. Sydney was part of the Undergraduate Pipeline Network (UPN) summer research program.
Claire Stratton
Ashlyn Hines-Lanham
Ashlyn Hines-Lanham
Claire investigated the role of cortical compression as the possible mechanism for spreading depolarization initiation in mild traumatic brain injuries and established that slower impacts do not produce spreading depolarizations or concussion-like behavior. Claire was part of the Undergraduate Pipeline Network (UPN) summer research program.
Ashlyn Hines-Lanham
Ashlyn Hines-Lanham
Ashlyn Hines-Lanham
Ashlyn developed the closed skull impact model in my laboratory and was the first to describe the concussion-like behavior. Ashlyn also did the initial histological analysis of this model. Ashlyn was part of the Undergraduate Pipeline Network (UPN) summer research program.
Shayla Clark
Ashlyn Hines-Lanham
New Mexico Spreading Depolarization Consortium
Shayla Clark investigated the role of serotonin in the initiation and propagation of spreading depolarizations. Shayla was part of the Undergraduate Pipeline Network (UPN) summer research program. Shayla is now a co-founder of Revolting Science Resources.
New Mexico Spreading Depolarization Consortium
New Mexico Spreading Depolarization Consortium
New Mexico Spreading Depolarization Consortium
Our Laboratory is part of the New Mexico Spreading Depolarization Consortium. We are a group of clinical and preclinical investigators that are driven to understand the physiological mechanisms of spreading depolarizations and how that translates to patient outcome.