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 the Assistant Chair Dr. David Jaffe.
PI and Project | Details |
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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. |
Lacy Barton, PhDAssistant Professor ProjectLB1: Investigations into how proper primordial germ cell development supports fertility and health of the next generation using classic Drosophila melanogaster genetics, microscopy, molecular biology, and in vitro cell assays |
Level: Undergraduate or Master's Minimum Requirements:
Time Committment: 5 hours/week for an introductory volunteer period (which will last 2-3 months). If everything is going well and you want to stay, we will shift away from volunteer status. To do your own research project after the introductory volunteer period, we require a commitment of 10-15 hours/week for a minimum of 6 months (9 months if including the introductory period). Application Deadline: Please email your materials by the end of the third week of every Fall and Spring semester starting Spring 2023 (first deadline is February 3, 2023). |
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. |
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. |
David Jaffe, PhDProjectsDJ1: Role of aberrant adult born granule cells in the generation of electrographic seizures in the hippocampal formation |
Level: Master's thesis Minimum Requirements:
Time Committment: 19 hours/week Application Deadline: none Description: Projects are available for two motivated Masters students interested in thesis research.
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Robert Renthal, PhDProfessor ProjectsRR1: Insect odorant receptors |
Level: Undergraduate or Master's Minimum Requirements:
Time Committment: at least 10 hours/week Application Deadline: none |
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 |
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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Matthew Wanat, PhDProfessor ProjectMW1: Astrocytes and avoidance learning |
Level: Undergraduate or Master's Minimum Requirements:
Application Deadline: none Description: The project examines the role of midbrain astrocytes in learning how to avoid aversive outcomes. The research involves rodent surgeries, viral manipulations of astrocytes, rodent behavior, and immunohistochemistry. |