Michele A. Basso, Ph.D
I am a Professor of Biological Structure and Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Washington. I have a long-standing interest in the neuronal circuits underlying symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and other disorders of the basal ganglia, such as Sdystonia. During my career, I’ve studied brain mechanisms underlying simple behaviors like cutaneous reflexes through voluntary movements and cognitive processing. My research interest now focuses on how memory and sensory information are combined to lead to our decisions and how these brain mechanisms go awry in Parkinson’s disease. At the University of Washington, I also serve as the Director of the Washington National Primate Research Center (WaNPRC) supporting research programs in neuroscience as well infectious disease, gene therapy, and primate conservation. I am especially excited about the science ongoing at WaNPRC, and all around the University of Washington, as I get to learn new things and building cross disciplinary collaborations to further the national and global impact of the WaNPRC and the University of Washington.
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Brittany Bushnell, Ph.D.
I am the Basso lab manager. I have been in love with neurophysiology since the first time I heard dopamine neurons firing as an undergraduate in Dr. Sheri Mizumori’s lab. After a several year stint working with Dr. Anitha Pasupathy I finally went off to earn my Ph.D. in neural science from NYU working with Dr. Lynne Kiorpes and Dr. Tony Movshon.
As the Basso lab manager, I am honored to be part of each of the projects our lab is doing. I am passionate about helping others do the best possible research.
When I’m not in lab, I love spending time with friends and family, preferably outdoors and with something delicious to eat.
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Krys Wieczerzak, Ph.D.
I am interested in the neurophysiological processes that enable us to perceive the world around us and act upon it.
I fell in love with electrophysiology while working in Dr. Tim Cope's lab at Wright State University investigating the effects of chemotherapy on proprioception and the physiology of afferents. After that, I worked as a lab technician in Dr. Ashot Kozak’s lab, where I performed patch-clamp recordings studying properties of the TRPM7 channel. During my Ph.D. in Dr. Brian Allman’s lab at the University of Western Ontario I studied auditory perception in rodents and the effects of noise-induced hearing loss on cognitive deficits.
I joined Dr. Basso’s team in January 2022, working with non-human primates (NHP) to study how visual perception guides our actions. Currently, I work on developing technologies commonly used in rodent research for use in NHP studies such as chemogenetics or calcium imagining in awake and freely moving animals.
Outside of the lab, I love being around water reading books and solving puzzles. I am also passionate about scuba diving and sailing.
Kevan Kidder, Ph.D.
I have been fascinated with the brain ever since I heard someone call it “the most complicated structure in the universe” and when I realized, brains are the thing that literally construct our experience of reality (i.e., consciousness). My curiosity about the brain led me to get a BS in Biology and BA in Psychology from the University of Washington in 2016. I then obtained my PhD from the UW psychology department’s behavioral neuroscience program in December 2022. My thesis work used a combination of optogenetic and electrophysiological techniques combined with behavioral analyses to better understand the role of the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus in spatial working-memory abilities.
I joined Dr. Basso’s team in May 2023 with the goal of creating cutting-edge methods which may elucidate physiological and cognitive markers for neurogenerative diseases and to create models for aging. Some of these novel methods include automated cage-side testing devices and systems for multi-camera motor/behavioral analyses.
Outside of the lab, I like tinkering with random projects, going outdoors, making music, and going to music concerts around the city.
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Vaibhav Thakur, Ph.D. candidate
I study how humans and animals exhibit a core behavior in living things: decision-making. We try to uncover how different brain areas coordinate with each other to arrive at a decision. Throughout my journey in clinical as well as non-clinical research, I have acquired a diverse set of skills such as neuro surgeries, large data modeling, closed-loop experiments, distributed computing systems, develop hardware and electronics for experiments with high-temporal precision requirements.
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Ye (Mary) Hong, Ph.D. candidate
I am a graduate student from the Neuroscience Graduate Program in UW. I majored in biology and received my bachelor’s degree from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. During my undergrad, I explored several topics in neuroscience, including microsaccade-related electrophysiology in pigeons and speech perception in human. In the meantime, I worked in Assad lab as a visiting student at Harvard Medical School and studied the relationship between midbrain dopamine and self-timing. Currently, I’m interested in how priors modulate the sensory evidence and accumulation in the perceptual decision-making task, as well as the underlying circuitry.
When not in lab, I enjoy cooking and exploring exotic cuisines. I also like hiking, Pilates exercises and am a beginner in snowboarding. I’m a Harry Potter fan and collect all magical things
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Carlos Garcia
I’m Carlos Garcia, a Post-Bac Lab Technician managing the mouse colony for the Basso Lab. I graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology where I spent a year volunteering in a drug addiction research laboratory, and I wish to continue gaining exciting experience within the field of neuroscience research here at the UW. A few of my interests include skiing, motorsport, and music production