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The Banghart Lab launched at UCSD in the Fall of 2016. UCSD graduate students should contact Matt by email to discuss rotation opportunities. Prospective graduate students should consider the graduate programs in Neurosciences or Biology (international students should apply to Biology). Postdoctoral candidates should email Matt their CV, a brief statement of research experience and interests, and contact info for 3 references.
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Matt originally trained as an organic chemist but then drifted into neuroscience during his PhD training. During his doctoral studies at UC Berkeley with Dirk Trauner and Rich Kramer, Matt developed methods for regulating ion channels with light, which initiated his transformation into a neuroscientist. Matt then pursued postdoctoral studies as a Helen Hay Whitney fellow with Bernardo Sabatini at Harvard Medical School to study the neurophysiology of striatal neuropeptides. This experience cemented his interest in how neuromodulators influence behavior. Outside of the lab you might find him running or cycling in the canyons around La Jolla, playing in the sand at the beach with his son, tending to his garden, or hovering over his Weber grill (year round). He also enjoys camping, hiking and snowboarding, and is always looking for excuses to be outside in the sun.
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Jing joins the lab with a background and interest in behavioral neuroscience, having completed her PhD at Nagoya University in Japan with Dr. Koyofumi Yamada, where she studied cognitive impairment in mouse models of schizophrenia. In the Banghart Lab she is investigating circuit mechanisms of opioid reward and the role of neuromodulation in placebo analgesia using in vivo imaging and in vivo photopharmacology.
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Hui is currently the Sr. chemist in the group. He joined the team after completing an outstanding PhD constructing multifunctional fluorogenic and near-IR fluorescent probes with Dr. Injae Shin at Yonsei University in South Korea. His current project involves optimizing caging groups for in vivo applications.
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Armed with a M.S. in chemistry that he earned in Fleur Ferguson's lab at UCSD, along with considerable prior experience in the fume hood, Stan is taking in vivo photopharmacology to the next level. His primary goal is to develop new caging groups that are specifically designed to perform well in the nervous system. With these new caging groups in hand he will then apply them to several important drugs that exhibit complex temporal dynamics in the brain with poorly understood sites of action.
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Janie brings to the lab a broad background in neurobiological research and a quirky sense of humor that originates in her undergraduate days earning a B.A. in Neuroscience at Oberlin College. She is currently focused on neuropeptide secretion in the lab, but also dabbles in placebo analgesia. Outside the lab you could find her at a rock climbing gym or, if time allows, on the seafloor scuba diving. Although grad school can be quite demanding, she always has time for her pet snake, Duck. Janie is the proud guardian of Morphy and Coco, the lab's pet lizards.
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Shayra joined the lab in 2024 after graduating from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Cell Biology (Neurobiology emphasis) while working in the Canzo lab at UCSF studying the molecular mechanisms of neuronal self avoidance. She is working on a new project that involves chemogenetic engineering of ligand-receptor interactions. Outside the lab Shayra enjoys finding new places to drink boba and watching horror movies.
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Coco and Morphy joined the lab in the Fall of 2024 just in time to feast on all of the crickets that find their way into the lab when the weather cools down (see video below). They pass the day lounging under rocks and logs and mostly emerge at night to run experiments when everyone else is home sleeping. What will be their next big discovery? The molecular underpinnings of the cricket escape reflex? Check the publications tab regularly for their next pre-print to find out.
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