UTSA is an amazing institution with many opportunities to get involved in undergraduate and graduate research!
To help you find a laboratory in the Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology (NDRB) that currently has openings for students to participate (non-paying) in cutting-edge research, see the table of available research opportunities below.
If you have any questions about this process, please contact Dr. David Jaffe.
last updated: August 22, 2025
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Alfonso Apicella, PhDAssociate Professor ProjectsAA1: Anatomical characterization of cortical neurons |
Level: Undergraduate or Master's thesis Minimum Requirements:
Time Committment: 19 hours/week Application Deadline: none Description: Cortical microcircuits process sensory information to drive behavior. Deciphering how populations of neurons encode information, generate perceptions, and execute behavioral decisions requires working at both the cellular and system levels. |
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Anthony Burgos-Robles, PhDAssistant Professor ProjectsABR1: Neural encoding of fear and safety memories |
Level: Undergraduate or Master's Minimum Requirements:
Responsibilities:
Time Committment: 15-19 hours/week Application Deadline: Applications accepted on a rolling basis. For initial screening, email Dr. Burgos-Robles with your CV or resume, prior research experiences, and a brief description of your career interests. URMs in the MARC, RISE, ESTEEMED, LSAMP, WSRTP, McNair, and Honors Program are encouraged to apply. Description: Dr. Burgos’ lab focuses on elucidating the neural substrates associated with the regulation of fear, stress, and anxiety. Particularly, his lab investigates neural pathways originating in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which plays central roles in higher-order cognitive functions and the regulation of negative emotions. Determining how distinct populations of neurons in the PFC encode information about potential dangers in the environment is essential for understanding how cognitive processes are engaged to generate flexible behavioral strategies to deal with fear, stress, and anxiety inducing stimuli. To investigate these neural substrates, this lab implements various multidisciplinary approaches that include mouse behavior paradigms, in vivo neural recordings, viral-mediated gene transduction, optogenetics, chemogenetics, neuropharmacology, immunohistochemistry, fluorescence imaging, and scRNA-seq. |
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Brian Hermann, PhDProfessor ProjectsBH1: Characterization of novel transgenic mice for lineage tracing and ablation |
Level: Undergraduate or Master's Minimum Requirements:
Responsibilities:
Time Committment: 15-19 hours/week Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; contact Brian Hermann for more information. Description: Work on research projects that involve studying spermatogenesis and spermatogonial stem cells in laboratory mice and marmosets using a variety of techniques and approaches. |
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Hyoung-gon Lee, PhDAssociate Professor ProjectsHL1: Neuropathological analysis of the transgenic mouse models for Alzheimer's disease |
Level: Undergraduate or Master's Minimum Requirements:
Time Committment: 15-19 hours/week Application Deadline: none Description: Our lab investigates the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases. Currently, our research focuses on two primary pathological conditions: Alzheimer's disease and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. We utilize a variety of molecular and biochemical techniques to investigate the underlying pathological mechanisms and identify potential therapeutic strategies. |
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Lindsey Macpherson, PhDAssistant Professor ProjectsLM1: Investigating the effects of chemotherapy/radiation treatment on the taste system in mice |
Level: Primarily Master's, but some Undergraduate openings sporadically Minimum Requirements:
Time Committment: UG: 10-15 hours/week; Master's 15-19 hours/week Additional: "Probationary Period" IACUC/LARC training and protocol approval is required to do most of the experiments in the lab. If this training is not completed within 2 months of starting, then the student may need to leave the lab. |
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Robert Renthal, PhDProfessor ProjectsRR1: Nanoparticle sensors for pheromones from insect agricultural pests |
Level: Undergraduate or Master's (thesis or non-thesis) Minimum Requirements:
Time Committment: at least 10 hours/week Application Deadline: none Description:
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Fidel Santamaria, PhDProfessor ProjectsFS2: Unifying neuronal simulation environments in Python |
Level: Undergraduate or Master's Minimum Requirements:
Time Committment: 5-20 hours/week Application Deadline: none |
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Marina Silveira, PhDAssistant Professor ProjectsMS1: Neuromodulation |
Level: Undergraduate or Master's Minimum Requirements:
Time Committment: 10-19 hours/week Application Deadline: none Description: The project investigates how neuromodulation impacts auditory processing and how neuromodulatory inputs change after hearing loss. |
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Todd Troyer, PhDAssociate Professor ProjectsTT1: Dta modeling of neural responses in auditory cortex of Mexican Freetail bats |
Level: Undergraduate or Master's thesis Minimum Requirements:
Time Committment: Flexible, but at least 7 hours/week. Application Deadline: none Description: Space is available for computationally motivated students to work on data modeling/theoretical studies of timing in neural circuits. Students will mostly work individually in collaboration with Dr. Troyer: most work can be done wherever on a student's laptop. It is expected that students will meet roughly weekly with Dr. Troyer. Students with only an initial exposure to math and programming skills are welcome, but success requires student with initiative and ability to succeed in a loosely structured environment.
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Jeffrey Vedanayagam, PhDAssistant Professor ProjectsJV1: Identify and characterize selfish genes that violate Mendel’s law of segregation in the Drosophila male germline |
Level: Undergraduate or Master's Minimum Requirements:
Time Committment:
Description: Our lab uses both experimental and bioinformatics approaches to study the evolution and function of selfish genes that violate Mendelian segregation in the germline. The lab welcomes computationally motivated students to learn and perform bioinformatics research to analyze next-generation and third-generation DNA and RNA sequencing data to study questions at the interface of genome evolution and reproduction. |