I am a PhD candidate in the Program in Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School. I study how the brain (specifically, the basal ganglia) orchestrates animal behavior in Bob Datta’s lab. Prior to September 2016, I was a research technician in Timothy Gardner’s laboratory in Boston University, where I developed peripheral nerve recording methods with cuff electrode arrays and flexible carbon nanotube threads. In 2014, I received my B.A. degree at Boston University specializing in Behavioral Biology.

I am fascinated by how easily animals (including humans) are able join actions into complex movement sequences. This process is very much tied to the environment the animal interacts with. Animals have a large repertoire of actions they can choose from – how do they make their choice in the context of a specific environment?

Currently, I study how a group of subcortical brain structures, collectively known as the basal ganglia, are involved in two processes:

• influencing action selection
• learning to perform specific actions

Some of my hobbies include making electronic gadgets, building web apps, and rendering 3d models. Some of my software projects are described here, some of my gadgets are here, and 3d models are here.