Christine A. Rabinak, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Lab Director

I am an assistant professor (tenure-track) in the Departments of Pharmacy Practice, Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and the Translational Neuroscience Program at Wayne State University. I earned my Ph.D. in Biopsychology from the University of Michigan under the mentorship of Dr. Steve Maren. Following my graduate work, I served as a Postdoctoral Translational Scholar at the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research, an NIH-supported institutional multidisciplinary career development program aimed at preparing individuals with a Ph.D. in biomedical science disciplines for independent careers in translational research. I carried this work out in the Psychiatric Affective Neuroimaging Laboratory and Trauma, Stress, and Anxiety Research Group in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan and the Mental Health Service at the VA Hospital in Ann Arbor under the mentorship of Drs. K. Luan Phan, Israel Liberzon, and James Abelson. My current research focuses on the neural circuits involved in regulating extinction of fear memories using a rodent model and translate it to humans, to better dissect the neural mechanisms of fear memory-related psychiatric conditions.

Dr. Rabinak's CV

Hilary Marusak, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Fellow

I am a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmacy Practice. I earned my Ph.D. in Translational Neuroscience from the Wayne State University School of Medicine in 2016 under the mentorship of Dr. Moriah Thomason. My doctoral research was focused on understanding the impact of early emotional trauma on brain and behavioral development in children and young adolescents. In that research, we identified structural and functional changes in the emotion centers of the brain. These changes may predispose some children to later emotional problems, particularly for children reared in socioeconomically disadvantaged settings. My postdoctoral work with Dr. Christine Rabinak will expand on those findings mechanistically by testing how early violence and/or abuse impacts the learning and regulation of fear memories. Another area of interest is medical trauma; we hope to understand the impact of the childhood cancer experience (cancer treatments, concerns about safety) on brain and behavioral development of the child and on the family as a whole. 

Craig Peters, Research Technologist

One major role I have in the lab is to help with image processing and analysis. Prior to joining the TNP2 Lab, I studied genetic interactions, specifically miRNA and mRNA, and helped facilitate high school educational workshops at the local Ann Arbor non-profit miRcore with Dr. Inhan Lee. I earned my undergraduate degree in Life Science Informatics at the University of Michigan and have worked for U of M's Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences Department. My interests include information science in health industry, how information technology is transforming the way we operate in the scientific world, and nerdy board games.

Farrah Elrahal, Research Coordinator

I am the research project coordinator in the lab. I earned my Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Prior to this position, I worked in Dr. Thomason's SCAN lab at Wayne State as the project coordinator. I am interested in conducting research related to neuropsychology and neuroimaging. I plan on attending graduate school and earning a doctoral degree in the future. I enjoy traveling and spending time with family and friends. I am excited to be a part of the TNP2 lab team!

Mike Angstadt, Research Computer Specialist

I earned bachelor's degrees in Psychology and Creative Writing from Carnegie Mellon University in 2003. In 2004, I began working in neuroimaging at the Clinical Neuroscience and Psychopharmacology Research Unit at the University of Chicago. My position relocated to the University of Michigan in 2007. My work has focused primarily on fMRI data processing and analysis with a side of server administration. I am continually interested in advancing the techniques that our lab uses to analyze neuroimaging data to allow more informed and detailed analysis as well as streamlining data processing to get to the results more quickly.  I recently completed a master's degree program in Statistics.

Kass Soufan, Undergraduate Honors Student

I am a junior undergraduate student at Wayne State University working towards completing a bachelor’s degree in Honors Biological Sciences. I am transitioning from Dr. Thomason's SCAN Lab at Wayne State, where I spent some time working on the CLIMB project, and I look forward to continuing my work on CLIMB in the TNP2 Lab. I enjoy playing sports, reading, and listening to instrumental music.

Juan Reyes, P2 PharmD Directed Study Student

I am a P1 student in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. I earned my undergraduate degree at Wayne State (Go Warriors!), and I have lived here in the city for three years. This will be my first experience working in a lab setting, and I am very excited to be a part of the team! I have had an interest in psychology ever since AP psychology back in high school, so I figured this would be a perfect opportunity for me. My interests include watching and playing sports, traveling, loving as many animals as possible, and last but certainly not least exploring the city of Detroit. 

Derek Montgomery, P3 PharmD Directed Study Student

I earned my bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at Michigan State University, where I performed research on bio-reactors and chemical recovery systems. I am now a third year pharmacy student in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. I am president of Rho Chi. While finishing my PharmD, I am also completing the Master’s in Public Health certificate program through the Wayne State School of Medicine. My interests focus heavily on all types of gaming including board games, computer games, and card games. I am excited to continue my research career with the member of TNP2 crew and cannot wait to see what we discover. 

Shelly Paulisim, Research Assistant Volunteer

I am currently an undergraduate student at Macomb Community College and will be transferring to Wayne State University to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences. My future career aspiration is to become an oncologist. I am looking forward to volunteering in the lab as a research assistant. I enjoy spending time with family and friends and reading. I am excited to be a part of the volunteer team at Wayne State!