Meet The Lab
Principle Investigator
Mary Kay Lobo, PhD
Mary Kay was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She received her B.S. in Biology with an minor in Anthropology at UCLA. She stayed on at UCLA for her P.h.D in Neuroscience in X. William Yang's Lab. She then moved to Dallas, Texas to start her Postdoc with Eric Nestler at UT Southwestern and one year later moved with the Nestler lab to Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, NY. Mary Kay joined the department of Anatomy and Neurobiology in 2011. When she is not busy with science she is hanging out with her rescue pups, Maisie and Loki.
Lab Manager
Shanm Ganapathy-Kanniapan, PhD
Shanm Ganapathy joined Lobo Lab in late 2022 as a laboratory research supervisor and is now working as a laboratory research manager. Prior to joining the Lobo Lab, Shanm was trained at prestigious institutions such as the Johns Hopkins University and UCLA in the United States, as well as the NII in New Delhi, India. Apart from research, Shanm enjoys movies, hiking, chess, and cooking.
Assistant Professor
Ramesh Chandra, PhD
Ramesh obtained his Ph.D. degree in Zoology in 2010 from Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India. He joined Dr. Lobo’s lab as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in July 2012 to utilize his extensive Molecular Biology skills in the field of Neuroscience. His current research project broadly focuses on cell type specific transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms in the two nucleus accumbens (NAc) projection neurons in cocaine abuse. He is using molecular approaches to manipulate gene expression in the two NAc projection neurons to determine their role in cocaine mediated behaviors. In his free time he likes to explore Baltimore and eat Chinese food.
PhD Candidate
Daniela Franco
Daniela received her B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Psychological Research from California State University, Long Beach. Her master’s thesis focused on the potential long-lasting consequences of drug exposure in an animal model of adolescence. In the summer of 2019, Daniela joined the Lobo Lab as a rotation student before making the easy decision to join the lab for her Ph.D. studies in the Spring of 2020. Her current research interests involve examining the molecular and behavioral consequences of social stress on reward and motivation with a special interest in nucleus accumbens neuron-microglia interactions. Outside of the lab, Daniela enjoys drawing, photography, coffee shops, and exploring Baltimore.
PhD Candidate
Payel Das
Payel obtained her B.S. and M.S. degree in Zoology from University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India in 2013 and 2015, respectively. She joined National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, India, as a research fellow in Dr. Battacharjee’s lab, where she was exposed to molecular mechanisms in cancer biology and learned about different molecular techniques. However, since M.S., she was cultivating a research interest in neurobiology and gradually developed interest in studying cellular pathways in neuron-subtypes in response to psychological stress. To pursue this interest, she moved to the Lobo lab as a Graduate student (PhD candidate). Her work focuses on the effects of chronic social stress on different molecules in projection-specific neuronal subtypes of spiny projection neurons of nucleus accumbens of mice. When not in the lab, Payel loves to read Vedic scriptures, meditation, embroidery, and cooking.
PhD Candidate
Mikah Green
Mikah received his bachelors in Physiological Psychology from Hunter College in 2022. His undergraduate research focused on PPI in the mauthner cells of fish. In the winter of 2023, he joined the Lobo Lab as a rotation student and quickly decided that spring to join the lab for his PhD. His current work is developing a Cas-12f derived CRISPR epigenome editing platform for cell-type specific use. He is also working on investigating transcriptomic changes in the ventral pallidum following exposure to cocaine and opioids. Outside of the lab Mikah enjoys going to concerts, hiking, and trying new restaurants.
PhD Candidate
Gautam Kumar
Gautam received his BA in Neuroscience from the University of Southern California, an MSc in Differential Psychology from the University of Edinburgh and an MPH from Columbia University. Before joining the Lobo lab as a PhD student in the summer of 2021, he spent time in various labs working as a biostatistician using dimension reduction techniques to examine and profile different kinds of complex datasets. His current research involves examining the sex-specific effect of chronic social stress on social behavior and gene expression. Outside of the lab, Gautam enjoys charity work and activism.
PhD Candidate
Jess McInerney
After receiving her BS in Neuroscience from Allegheny College in 2019, Jess spent two years as a research assistant at the Lieber Institute for Brain Development in the Martinowich lab. During this time, her research focused on the role of the locus coeruleus in sustained attention. Jess entered as a graduate student in the Program in Neuroscience in 2021 and joined the Lobo lab the following year. Her current interest is to explore the transcriptional and behavioral effects of perinatal fentanyl exposure in adolescence and adulthood. Outside of lab, Jess enjoys reading, playing guitar and spending time with her family, including her 1-year-old, Lucas.
Lab Alums
Rianne Campbell, PhD
Surbhi Hajirnis, PhD
Nikhil Hajirnis, PhD
Eric Choi, PhD
Ben Siesman, PhD
Makeda Turner, MS
Michel Engeln, PhD
Megan Fox, PhD
Chase Francis, PhD