News – Kantarci Lab

Lab Updates

7/15/2025 – Nikita Watson was selected for appointment to the Neuroscience Department’s T32 training grant!
5/30/2025 – The lab just won the 2025 CNS Catalyst Grant to study Oligodendrocyte Control of Cortical Excitabiltiy and Dysfunction in Austim Spectrum Disorders! Huge thanks to Dominic and Nikita for their work!
5/21/2025 – Congrats to Sam and Karina for their STAR protocols publication for DRG!
4/22/2025 – Kimberley was awarded and accepted a summer fellowship!
4/13/2025 – Eunsu presented her work on The Changes in Oligodendrocyte Numbers in Cntnap2 Autism Model Mice at the Undergraduate Research Forum!

3/31/2025 – Eunsu was awarded and accepted the CNS Advanced Summer Research Fellowship, which includes a $4,000 stipend and a $1,000 housing allowance. As part of the fellowship, she will participate in the CNS Research Fellowship Workshop Series and present her work at the Undergraduate Research Forum.
2/22/2025 – Uma, who joined our lab as a high school researcher last year, presented her research findings at the Greater Austin Regional Science & Engineering Fair (GARSEF). She won first place in the Cellular & Molecular Biology category and was awarded “Best of Fair,” qualifying her as a Regeneron International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF 2025) finalist. ISEF will take place on May 15th in Columbus, OH, where top high school STEM students from around the globe participate in 22 project categories for prizes and scholarships. Uma will also present at the Texas State Science & Engineering Fair on March 29th at Texas A&M University in College Station. Additionally, the U.S. Office of Navy Research recognized Uma’s project presentation with a special award for research excellence.

11/9/2024 – Kimberly gave talk at the Golf Coast Research Symposium at Rice University (GCURS). Her presentation was on Glial-PGE2 signaling and their role on excitability. It was a very exciting conference where she met fellow undergraduate’s who were mentored by experts in the fields of neurophysiology, neurobehavior, and neuroaddiction.

12/17/2024 – Inara Jawed have joined the lab!
11/1/2024 – Kimberly wins the UT Austin Undergraduate Research Fellowship award with her proposal ” What Triggers Excitability in Retinal Ganglion Cells: Internal Mechanisms or Glial Support?” Congrats to Kimberly!
9/5/2024 – Roopa Ravichandar joins the Kantarci lab as the lab’s first postdoctoral fellow! Roopa is currently completing her doctoral work in Dr. Fraser J. Sim’s lab at the University at Buffalo. We are thrilled to welcome Roopa to the lab! She will lead a collaborative project under the co-mentorship of Dr. Amy Lee in our department, investigating the glial regulation of retinal ganglion cell development.
8/27/2024 – Four amazing undergraduate researchers—Eunsu Kim, Joshua Bhat, Kimberly Castillo, and Mariam Hajiaghajani—have joined the lab!