Emilia Favuzzi, PhD

Principal Investigator | she/her

  • Emilia grew up in Italy and received a B.S. in Biology and a M.S. in Neurobiology from Sapienza University of Rome. She did her doctoral training in the lab of Beatriz Rico at the Institute of Neuroscience in Spain and at the Centre for Developmental Neurobiology at King’s College London working on inhibitory circuit development. In her postdoctoral work in Gord Fishell’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute, Emilia discovered that specialized microglia differentially engage with specific synapse types. Over the years, Emilia was awarded numerous prizes such as the Beddington Medal from the British Society for Developmental Biology and the Krieg Cortical Kudos Scholar Award from the Cajal Club.

    In her free time, Emilia enjoys painting, traveling, bike rides, museums, and anything artsy.

Daniel Camacho, MD, PhD

Psychiatry Resident | he/him

  • Daniel (Dan) F. Camacho is a Yale Psychiatry resident in the Neuroscience Research Training Program. He attended the University of Michigan, where he received a BS in Chemistry, with distinction, and an MS in Biomedical Engineering. He earned his MD and PhD degrees from the University of Chicago’s Medical Scientist Training Program with a specialization in immunology.

    Dan’s professional interests include patient care, research, science communication, and science outreach. His previous research has advanced our understanding of how allergic responses are triggered and how communication between cells of the body can allow cancer cells to grow unchecked. His current research aims to help us understand how interactions between immune cells and the nervous system contribute to mental health and psychiatric illness.

Emory Farrell

Research Assistant (joint with the Rodríguez Lab) | they/them

  • Emory grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. They then went to University of Vermont and obtained a Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering with a concentration in cell, tissue, and organ biomechanics in 2021. After graduating, they worked as a research technician at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston studying Dravet syndrome and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.

    In their free time, Emory enjoys taking care of their animals (a dog, cat, and gecko), art, listening to music and podcasts, and playing video games.

Zachary Gursky, PhD

Postdoctoral Associate | he/him

  • Zachary was born and raised in the Philadelphia area. He obtained his B.S in Psychology and Music Theory from Stony Brook University. He received his MS and PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of Delaware examining the behavioral and neurobiological consequences of prenatal alcohol exposure. His work resulted in numerous publications and recognitions including a President’s Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism. He started his postdoctoral training by examining the glymphatic system with Helene Benveniste at Yale University. He is very excited to continue his postdoctoral training examining central-peripheral immune system crosstalk in the Favuzzi lab.

    In his free time, Zachary enjoys hiking, biking, trying new kinds of teas, and is passionate about the performing arts — especially music, ballet, and opera. He has recently begun teaching himself to play the trombone but (so far) has had much more success in other endeavors.

Patricia A. Colom Díaz

PhD student (joint with Akiko Iwasaki’s lab) | she/her

  • Patricia was born and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico. She obtained her Bachelor's degree in Biology from University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez. After graduation, she joined Dr. Jennifer Trowbridge’s Lab at The Jackson Laboratory where she worked as a Postbacc Fellow studying the process of clonal hematopoiesis and its implications in leukemia. As a first year PhD in the Immunobiology Department at Yale, she is interested in studying neuroimmune interaction during viral infections. She is also passionate about education, outreach and inclusion, actively volunteering in various outreach programs at Yale.

    In her free time, she enjoys exploring new places/food, gardening, reading historical fiction books, and hiking. Fun fact: she has hiked a glacier and a volcano!

Shao-Yu Fang

Postgraduate Associate | she/her

  • Shao-Yu joined the Favuzzi Lab in January 2024 as a postgraduate associate. Before joining the lab, Shao-Yu had her postgraduate training in the Genetic lab at Yale, where her work involved CRISPR-based gene editing and high-throughput screening techniques in primary immune cells and chimeric-antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, aimed at identifying novel regulators to advance cancer immunotherapy. Shao-Yu is now deeply interested in neuroimmune crosstalk and excited to leverage her background in genetic and molecular biology to explore the field of neuroimmunology.

    In her free time, Shao-Yu enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, bouldering, and diving. She also has a profound love for coffee; she can’t go a day without multiple cups of coffee to keep her going, but surprisingly, she still sleeps like a baby at night.

Carolina Piletti Chatain

PhD Candidate | she/her

  • Carolina is a Brazilian PhD student in the Yale Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Biomedicine from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and received a double Master's degree in Neuroscience from Université de Bordeaux in France and Georg-August Universität Göttingen in Germany. With prior experience in neural circuits and behavior, she is excited to explore the field of neuroimmunology in the Favuzzi lab.

    In her free time, Carolina enjoys camping and hiking, as well as engaging in music-related activities - dancing, singing, and trying to play instruments. She is also passionate about science education and actively participates in different outreach and mentorship initiatives.

Bryanna Vilnaigre

BP-ENDURE Program Undergraduate student (incoming) | she/her

  • Bryanna is rising senior at New York University (NYU) pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Neural Science and a minor in Chemistry. She is interested in the molecular pathways of learning and memory. Bryanna has obtained knowledge in various techniques used to study cognitive function ranging from molecular to computational neuroscience. Her current research project at NYU Langone in Dr. Shane Liddelow’s lab focuses on characterizing reactive glia and identifying molecular pathways in the X-Linked Dystonia Parkinsonism (XDP). She spent last summer at Brown University in Dr. Hwamee Oh’s lab, investigating how amyloid-beta load affects the hippocampus in Alzheimer’s disease. She is currently preparing for her upcoming summer in our lab, investigating how the cortex encodes immune responses.

    Ultimately, she aims to enhance her skills in research to prepare for future Ph.D. programs in Neuroscience. She also strives to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and public interest, especially in under-represented communities. She believes it is imperative to further integrate STEM fields and to mentor young black women who also wish to pursue neuroscience.

Chenxin Liu

Visiting Undergraduate Student | she/her

  • Chenxin is a senior undergraduate student at the Chu Kochen Honors College of Zhejiang University, China. Her major is Basic Medical Sciences. She has rotated in several labs and got research experience related to immunology and neuroscience. She is excited about neuroimmune interactions and desires to learn more mechanisms and practical exploration tools as a visiting undegraduate student for the 2023-2024 academic year at Yale.

    In her free time, Chenxin enjoys trying all kinds of delicious food, traveling (but always too lazy to go out, always a follower rather than a planner), playing games (but bad skills) and is passionate about music (loves concert performance, music festival, opera in the theatre). She loves playing a Chinese classical musical instrument, Guzheng, but she is still practicing.

Alumni

Ivy Sun (she/her)

High school student, Summer Intern 2023

  • Ivy was a junior at Hopkins High School in New Haven. By taking advantage of the science curriculum at her school, she discovered her strong interest in neuroscience and spent Summer 2023 in the Favuzzi lab! She is currently applying for College.

    In her free time, Ivy enjoys traveling, playing squash, listening to music, and spending time with friends and family.