Gwyn joined the Eisch Lab in August 2004, and received her Ph.D. from the Integrative Biology program at UT Southwestern in June of 2007.  She received her undergraduate degree in Biotechnology at University of California, Davis.  She is a former graduate student of Richard Gaynor's (now at Eli Lilly) at the UT Southwestern Comprehensive Cancer Center.  She also worked for several years as a research associate in the lab of David Amaral at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute studying the pathology and etiology of autism and William's syndrome.  During her time in the Eisch Lab, Gwyn was a proud member of "Team Opiate", and she was anointed the "ImmunoQueen" for her gorgeous immunohistochemistry. Her dissertation project involved examiing how opiates and opioids impact adult hippocampal neurogenesis. She also characterized adult neurogenesis in the human hippocampus. Near the end of her Ph.D. studies, Gwyn was awarded a summer fellowship from the National Science Foundation to study in Australia, and also secured a fully supported postdoctoral fellowship in Australia (coincidence?) studying mammary stem cells in the lab of Jane Visvader at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne. She is cranking away down under, and is making us proud. G'day Mate! Gwyn is doing postdoctoral work on breast  cancer stem cells in the lab of Jane Visvader at the Walter and Eliza  Hall Institute in Melbourne Australia

Mike joined the group in May 2003 and received his Ph.D. from the Neuroscience Program at UT Southwestern in March of 2008. He received his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Rice University, making him the second Rice University-associated Eisch laboratory member (see Ryan Simonak, past member). Go Owls! He hails from Austin, but he liked Dallas primarily because of the science at UT Southwestern, but also because of "the big hair and the fact that Dallas is not Houston". Mike had a diversified lab portfolio during his time in the Eisch Lab.  He first worked on a mouse model of Alzheimer's Disease, the PDAPP mouse. Mike used a variety of classic and novel approaches to identify distinct alterations in hippocampal cytogenesis and neurogenesis.  This project was generously funded by the Alzheimer's Disease Center at UT Southwestern, an NIH funded institution.  Mike also worked on several other projects to investigate how antidepressants actually act to increase adult hippocampal neurogenesis, how a clinically-relevant model of chronic stress alters adult neurogenesis, and the behavioral implications of stem cell ablation in the adult mouse. Most of Mike's time in the lab was supported by his individual NRSA from NIMH. Mike is currently in the San Francisco Bay Area working at UCSF in the lab of David Copenhagen. In fall of 2008 Mike married the lovely and talented Dr. Deanna Wallace in Estes Park, CO.

Stephanie joined the Eisch Lab in June 2005 and finished her postdoctoral training in May of 2007. She received undergraduate degrees in English Literature and Biology at California State University at Sonoma, where she learned how to make wine in chemistry class, but wasn’t old enough to taste it.  She received her PhD at Mayo Graduate School in Rochester, Minnesota, and spent three years thawing out at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, before joining the Eisch Lab in Texas. During her time in the lab, Stephanie examined an injection model of morphine exposure to see if these mice have alterations in hippocampal cytogenesis, vascular-related growth factors, and learning behavior.  Her work was funded by an NIH training grant. When she was in the lab, we tried, but fortunately failed, to break her of the habit of naming her experiment groups after Roger Zelazny and John Steinbeck characters.  (We're glad you did Steph! Very fun, and it helps that you were super organized too!). After her training, Stephanie pursued her dream of becoming an educator, and she currently teaches science in the Dallas Independent School District. She is enjoying life now with her new husband (a firefighter!) and we are fortunate she stays in touch with us - we miss her! Stephanie is now pursuing her dream of being a science teacher, but she is doing it in a dream environment:  the Arts Magnet School for the Dallas Independent School District. For an English and Biology major, Stephanie has found her niche, and her  students should realize how lucky they are!

Laure had to leave us in Summer 2008 as her husband  got a job in Ohio. We miss you Laure!

Chitra was my first postdoctoral fellow and the original member of Team Opiate. Her work on opiates and neurogenesis earned her many publications and an individual postdoctoral fellowship from NIDA during her time with me at UT Southwestern. Chitra is now an Assistant Professor at the Scripps Research Institute, and is now a mom of two - she, Giri, and Atulya welcomed little Tanya in 2008.

Diane C. Lagace (maiden name: Bird): Dr. Lagace joined the lab in August 2004 as a postdoctoral fellow supported by the Canadian Institute of Health Research, and was promoted to Instructor in February of 2008. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in honors psychology at McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario in 1996, and then moved to Nova Scotia to work in clinical research in the Department of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University with Dr. Stanley Kutcher. Wanting to understand more about the biological mechanism of action for medications used to treat psychiatric conditions, she pursued graduate work at Dalhousie University in Department of Pharmacology. She earned both her Master of Science and Doctoral degrees in examined the neuroendocrine effects of valproic acid, a mood stabilizing drug, and demonstrated that valproic acid inhibited adipogenesis. Combining her background in psychopharmacology with adult neurogenesis, Dr. Lagace spear-headed many projects while in the Eisch Laboratory, including the role of Cdk5 in adult neurogenesis, the impact of methylphenidate on adult neurogenesis, and the complex interaction between social defeat stress and adult neurogenesis. In January of 2009 Dr. Lagace started her independent laboratory at the University of Ottawa where she is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Heart and Stroke Foundation, Centre for Stroke Recovery (HSFCSR).

Michele A. Noonan: Michele joined the Eisch Laboratory in January of 2005, after completing a summer rotation in 2004. She received her Bachelor's degree at Boston College, where she worked with Stephen Heinrichs on the effects of baclofen on cue-induced cocaine relapse. Michele was the leader of Team Cocaine, and characterized how both cocaine self-administration and cocaine withdrawal change adult neurogenesis in the two neurogenic regions of the adult brain. Michele was the recipient of an individual NRSA F32 from the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Michele has secured a postdoctoral position in the laboratory of Linda Hsieh-Wilson at CalTech and will begin her research there in early 2009.