Banghart Lab
  • Home
  • Research
  • Publications
  • People
  • Resources
  • Contact
  • Links
  • Open positions
  • Home
  • Research
  • Publications
  • People
  • Resources
  • Contact
  • Links
  • Open positions
​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. 

​Matthew Banghart, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator

Picture
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.  ​

Dr. Jinzhu Liao, Ph.D.
​Postdoctoral Fellow

Picture
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.

Dr. Hui Li, Ph.D.
​Postdoctoral Fellow

Picture
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.

Susan Lubejko, B.S.
​PhD Student

Picture
Susan joined the Banghart Lab in 2018 through the UCSD Neuroscience Graduate Program. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, she began her investigation of neural circuits with Katrina MacLeod at the University of Maryland College Park, followed by two years at NIH's National Institute on Aging in Baltimore under the mentorship of Henriette van Praag. Now at UCSD, she remains just as fascinated by how neural circuits are built and function to support sensory experience. In the lab, Susan is focused on understanding the physiology and gene expression of neurons in the midbrain and brainstem that are involved in modulation of pain, as well as the role of neuropeptides in defining these circuits. On the weekend, she loves to try new San Diego restaurants and breweries and cheer from afar for her favorite football team, the Baltimore Ravens.

Giulia Livrizzi, M.S.
PhD student

Picture
Giulia joined the lab with a formidable background in slice electrophysiology, having learned to record from up to three cells at a time during a stint in the Tolias Laboratory at Baylor. Before that Giulia spent two years studying LTP en route to a Masters degree in Neurobiology from La Sapienza University in her hometown, the great city of Rome. Having spent 2 years in the lab as a Sr. Research Scientist prior to starting grad school, Giulia has identified antinociceptive neurons in the midbrain and is studying their role in pharmacological and cognitive pain modulation. Giulia spends her free time exploring California's many wonderful destinations, many of which include waves, sand and sunshine. She is devoted to raising a happy and healthy kitten and also makes a mean tiramisu. ​

Stanley Buczynski, M.S.
PhD student

Picture
Stan is the lab's newest full-time member. 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. ​

Janie Chang-Weinberg, B.S.
Laboratory Assistant

Picture
Janie brings to the lab a broad background in neuroscience research and a quirky sense of humor that originates in her undergraduate days at Oberlin College. Although she supports many projects in many ways, she is currently honing in on the placebo analgesia project as her main focus in the lab. Janie will be applying to a graduate program near you in the future.

Lab Alumni

             Name                                             Former position                                                           Subsequent or current position
    Aryanna Layden                                 Laboratory Assistant                                                            PhD student, UC Berkeley
    Desiree Johnson                      B.S./M.S. student & Lab Assistant                                      PhD student, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Shannan McClain                     MSTP student (Neurosciences)                                                      Medical school (UCSD)
        Dr. Jenny He                         Ph.D. student (Biological Sciences)                                  Postdoctoral Fellow, Von Zastrow Lab, UCSF
        Dr. Xiang Ma                            Postdoctoral Fellow (chemistry)                                             Organic Chemist, Ambryx Inc.
     Dr. Jingjing Zhou                        Postdoctoral Fellow (chemistry)             Medicinal Chemist, Global Health Drug Discovery Institute
     Emilya Ventriglia                                  B.S./M.S. Student                                                         PhD student, Brown University
      Boris Stepanyuk                                Laboratory Assistant                                          Medical Student, University of Colorado, Denver
         Janki Patel                             Undergraduate Research Assistant                           Research Assistant, Chalasani Lab, SALK Institute
      John Girardini                        Undergraduate Research Assistant                                    Research Assistant, Xu Chen Lab, UCSD
        Vidit Goyal                            Undergraduate Research Assistant                                                        San Diego Biotech
      Connor Weiss                        Undergraduate Research Assistant                                   PhD student, University of Washington
      Jose Mendoza                        Undergraduate Research Assistant                                Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan Kettering
                                                                                                                                                          Tri-Institutional MD-PhD program

    Natalie Samson                       Undergraduate Research Assistant                                       PhD Student, Keck Graduate Institute
  Andres Bermudez                             Laboratory Assistant                                                                        San Diego Biotech

​​Random lab-related photos

Proudly powered by Weebly