Our Team
Amber L. Alhadeff, ph.d.
principal investigator
Postdocs, Ph.D. students, and staff
Alisha Acosta received a B.S. in Biochemistry at Rowan University. She joined the Alhadeff Lab in 2020 and is investigating gut-brain signaling and the hindbrain control of food intake.
Alisha Acosta
Lab Manager
Sam received his B.A. in Neuroscience from the University of Virginia, and his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland where he worked in the lab of Dr. Donna Calu examining the role of endocannabinoid signaling in Pavlovian Learning. He is interested in how signaling in homeostatic and reward centers drives feeding behavior.
Sam Bacharach, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Song received his Ph.D. in Physiology at East China Normal University. He is currently a postdoc in the Alhadeff lab where he is interested in how GLP-1R agonists impact cognitive functions.
Song Chang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Juarez received his B.Sc. in Biomedicine from Dom Bosco Catholic University in Campo Grande, Brazil. He is currently a Research Technician in the Alhadeff Lab where he is interested in studying the neural control of feeding behavior.
Juarez Culau
Research Technician
Misgana received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. She joined Penn NGG as a Ph.D. student after three years of performing research on the neural control of feeding behavior in the lab of Dr. Harvey Grill. As a graduate student in the Alhadeff Lab, Misgana is interested in how sensory food signals impact neural activity in key feeding regions of the brain.
Misgana Ghidewon
PH.D. Student, Penn NGG
Rachel received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, where she also performed her Undergraduate thesis in the Alhadeff lab. She transitioned to a Research Technician where she is interested in the hindbrain control of feeding behavior.
Rachel Gittleman
Research Technician
Elizabeth received a B.S. from Rowan University. She joined the lab in 2022 and is managing the lab’s transgenic mouse colony.
Elizabeth Gold
Research Technician
Dr. Dong-Jun Koo received his Ph.D. from Seoul National University, where he worked with Dr. Sung-Yon Kim examining the role of body-brain signaling for thirst control. In the Alhadeff Lab, he is interested how sensory signaling impacts feeding behavior.
Dong-Jun Koo, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Aaron Mcknight received a B.S. in Biology from Shippensberg University of Pennsylvania. Aaron joined the Alhadeff Lab in September 2019 where he is investigating the mechanisms through which gut signaling influences hypothalamic neuron activity, as well as the effects of hunger on peripheral inflammatory responses.
Aaron McKnight
Ph.D. Student, Penn NGG
Dr. Ileana Morales received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan where she worked with Dr. Kent Berridge to study hedonic hotspots. She is currently interested in how GLP-1R agonists impact reward signaling.
Ileana Morales, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Katie received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, where she performed her senior thesis in the Alhadeff Lab. She is Currently a Research Technician and is investigating interactions between homeostatic and reward signaling.
Katie Zappetti
Research Technician
Alhadeff Lab Undergrads
Victoria Alamo-Rosas
UPeNN
Coumba Diagne
UPenn
Alhadeff Lab Alumni
Emery Moore
UPenn
Nathaniel Nyema was a Research Technician in the Alhadeff Lab from 2020-2022. He is currently a Ph.D. student in Neuroscience at CalTech.
Nathaniel Nyema
Zoey was a Research Technician in the Alhadeff lab and is currently a Ph.D. student at Yale University.
Fang-Yu (Zoey) Hsu
Dr. Kuei-Pin Huang was a postdoc in the Alhadeff Lab. He is currently a senior scientist at Calico Labs.
Kuei-Pin Huang
Heather Schneps was an Undergraduate Research Assistant in the Alhadeff Lab. She then did a postbac in the Khaliq lab at NINDS, and is currently a medical student at NYU.
Heather Schneps
Alex Vargas was an undergraduate and later a Research Technician in the Alhadeff Lab. She is currently an M.D./Ph.D. student at the University of Pittsburgh.
Alex Vargas
Milena was a Research Technician in the Alhadeff lab, and is currently a Ph.D. student at UNICAMP in São Paulo, Brazil.