Michael Holsey

Michael Holsey is pursuing his PhD at Columbia University using single molecule TIRF microscopy to better understand Dopamine Receptor function. He joined the Columbia University Physiology and Cellular Biophysics graduate program in 2012. Michael graduated from Amherst College in 2009 before spending time as a research technician at Columbia. Michael serves as the coordinator for Columbia’s Summer Program for Underrepresented Students (SPURS) which aims to increase diversity in the medical sciences: http://www.spurs.columbia.edu

Tessa Hirschfeld-Stoler

Tessa is a doctoral student at Columbia University studying the developmental role of serotonin circuitry in anxiety and depression disorders. She spent her childhood in Ann Arbor, MI and Paris, France before completing her B.A. at Wesleyan University in Neurobiology and Behavior. Tessa is pursuing her passion for photography, particularly street photography and portraiture. Her work can be found here: www.tessabeligue.com

Cyndel Vollmer

Cyndel is a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University Medical Center. Her research aims to characterize the diverse roles of protein modifications in synaptic transmission (communication between brain cells). Before coming to New York City for graduate school, Cyndel earned her B.S. in Biology and Neuroscience at SUNY Albany then spent a year at the University of New Mexico working as a laboratory technician. She teaches for Columbia’s Science Honors Program, a program for high-achieving high school students interested in the sciences. In her spare time, Cyndel pursues science outreach opportunities and cultivates her glass-fusing hobby