Current Members
Anna Phan
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Alberta
In April 2020, I started my first lab in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta . I obtained my PhD from the University of Guelph and completed my post-doctoral training at The Scripps Research Institute in Florida.
My research focus is on the neurobiology of learning and memory, and have experience working with mice and Drosophila. Currently my work is on identifying and studying the genes that limit learning and memory processes in Drosophila and how social isolation alters the brain and behaviour.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Gurlaz Kaur, PhD
December 2023-Current
Graduate Students
Akhila Eswaran
PhD Student; July 2021-Current
I obtained my undergraduate degree in 2020 from the International Medical University in Malaysia and came to Canada in 2021 to start my graduate studies at the UofA. I’m interested in memory, neurogenetics and neurobiology related research. My PhD research project focuses on characterizing a novel memory suppressor gene and unraveling its underlying neural mechanisms. In my free time, I enjoy painting, cooking, reading, watching Kdramas and solving Rubik’s cubes. I also love being a few hours away from the mountains and enjoy hiking on holidays.
Amoolya Sai Dwijesha
M.Sc. Student; Sept 2021-Current
I am from India but I grew up in the UAE and Oman for a large part of my life. After highschool, I shifted back to India to pursue my undergraduate and an integrated master’s of technology degree in Biotechnology at Dr. D.Y Patil Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Institute, Pune, India. Currently, as a graduate student at the Phan lab, my research aims to investigate the role of the cohesin complex subunit, stromalin and some of its potential downstream mediators in seizure behavior in Drosophila to better understand a rare group of disorders known as cohesinopathies.
When I am not in the lab parenting or seizing my fruit flies, I like to watch anime, and play with Miso (our pet cat). 🙂
Illia Pimenov
M.Sc. Student
Sept 2023-Current
Mitacs Globalink Graduate Fellowship Award
Undergraduate Research Students
Heba Mahmood
Undergraduate Research Student
Sept 2021- Current
2022 Alberta Innovates Summer Research Studentship
Brian Kong
Undergraduate Research Student
Sept 2022- Current
Shakara Eben-Munro
Undergraduate Research Student
Sept 2023- Current
Past Members
Undergraduate Research Students
Illia Pimenov (visiting student Ukraine) – 2022-2023 MITACS Globalink GRI & GRA
Danny Kurani
Partha Kulkarni
Sara Castro Garcia (visiting student Mexico) – 2022 MITACS Globalink GRI
Celina Phan
Justine David – 2022 NSERC USRA
James Thomson-Dick – 2021 & 2022 NSERC USRA
Regina Mendoza
Chisom Ezeh