Lab Members
Christoph Anacker, PhD
Principal Investigator
Dr. Anacker received his PhD in 2011 at King’s College London in the UK, where he established a novel human hippocampal stem cell model to study the effects of stress hormones and antidepressants on hippocampal neurogenesis in vitro. He then completed postdoctoral training at McGill University in Montreal, where he studied the neural circuits underlying stress vulnerability, as well as epigenetic effects of early life influences on brain function. He then continued his postdoctoral training at Columbia University in New York, where he discovered that adult hippocampal neurogenesis can confer stress resilience by inhibiting neural activity of the ventral dentate gyrus. Dr. Anacker started his lab in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University in 2019, where he studies the neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying stress susceptibility and resilience. His lab combines transgenic mouse models, in vivo brain imaging, optogenetic techniques, and molecular approaches, to study how stress at different stages of development causes psychiatric disorders. The goal of this research is to find new ways to target these mechanisms so that we can develop novel treatments and preventive strategies for psychiatric disorders.
Maryam Hasantash, PhD
Research Scientist II
Maryam is a research scientist in the lab. She received her Ph.D. in System Neuroscience from the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM) in Tehran, Iran. In her graduate work under supervision of Dr. Arash Afraz, she studied the neural basis of color vision. She then joined the Conway lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and continued her research on color memory and its interaction with human face recognition. Maryam joined the Anacker lab in 2019, where her research focuses on neural circuitry underlying cognitive flexibility and stress resilience. She uses in vivo calcium imaging in freely moving mice to investigate the functional role of ventral hippocampus – orbitofrontal cortex projections for cognitive flexibility, stress coping, and resilience. Maryam has been awarded the NARSAD Young Investigator Award to study neural circuits of stress susceptibility and resilience.
Minkyung Park, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Minkyung is a postdoctoral researcher in the lab. She received her Ph.D. in Medical Science (Neuroscience) from the Yonsei University College of Medicine, South Korea. During her graduate studies, she studied underlying mechanisms of central/ peripheral neuropathic pain and treatment effects using Adeno-associated virus (AAV) and deep brain stimulation (DBS). Minkyung joined the Anacker lab in the Spring of 2024. She investigates how early life stress reshapes neural circuitry and leads to serotonergic dysfunction and cell-type specific impact on neuronal activity in the ventral dentate gyrus using optogenetics, in vivo fiber photometry and calcium imaging.
Marine Pujol, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Marine is a postdoctoral researcher in the lab. She received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Sorbonne University in Paris, France. During her doctoral research, she investigated the role of vGLUT3 in shaping behavioral and sleep responses to stress, focusing on stress-related cholinergic and dopaminergic dynamics in the nucleus accumbens. Marine joined the lab in the fall of 2024.
Yifei Li
Research Assistant
Yifei graduated from Columbia University in 2022 with a MA in Biotechnology, where she studied modern aspects of biotechnology with a particular emphasis on approaches used in the neurobiological industries. She started as a volunteer and is currently a research assistant in the Anacker lab, where she is exploring the role of Hippocampus-Orbitofrontal Cortex neural circuitry for Cognitive flexibility in mice. Yifei is working to understand the fundamental and clinically important topic of which brain circuits govern cognitive flexibility and how chronic stress affects these circuits. We believe that understanding such may very possibly lead to innovative treatments or prevention measures for mental diseases defined by reduced cognitive flexibility. In her downtime, Yifei enjoys hip-hop dancing, reading the latest scientific research discoveries, and shopping.
Rory Thompson
Research Assistant
Rory graduated from Vassar College in 2023 with a B.A. in both Neuroscience and Behavior and Cognitive Science. At Vassar, Roryinvestigated the role of medial prefrontal cortex astrocytes in spatial working memory and how the ketogenic diet affects hippocampal formation astrocytes in aged rats. She is currently a research assistant in Dr. Christoph Anacker’s lab, where she studies the impacts of early life adversity (ELA) on brain functioning and behavior. More specifically, Rory is examining how ELA alters the neural circuitry involved in fear learning and whether this impairment can be reversed with increased serotonin levels. When she is not in the lab, Rory enjoys dancing at BDC, reading, walking around the city, and snuggling with her cat.
Research Assistant
Kate Slavashevich
Department Administrator
Nicki Amin
Department Lab Manager / Administrative Assistant
Lab Alumni
Lauren Malave - Postdoctoral Researcher
Rushell Dixon - Graduate Student
Cady Chen - Undergraduate Researcher
Neilah Rustemi - Research Assistant
John Bickle - Research Assistant
Camilla Foglesong - Research Assistant
Lamiya Rahmen - Undergraduate Researcher
Hannah Ramsey - Undergraduate Researcher
Eva Sher - Research Assistant
Ryan Shores - Research Assistant
David Gérard - Graduate Student
Viviana Evans - Undergraduate Researcher
Ben Yuan - Undergraduate Researcher
Leila Tejani - Undergraduate Researcher
Serena Wu - Research Assistant
Eduardo Campos - Fulbright Scholar
Arielle Emile - High School Student