Columbia University, New York, NY
Welcome!
I'm an aspiring neuroscientist interested in understanding how neocortex mediates sensory processing. As a PhD Candidate in Dr. Randy Bruno's lab at Columbia University, I am investigating how cortical layers functionally contribute to sensory-guided behaviors.
My training prior to the Bruno Lab span a wide spectrum of neuroscience subfields, including social psychology, ion channel biophysics, and biochemistry. I seek to marry my interests in cellular and cognitive neuroscience to tackle interdisciplinary challenges in aging research.
Educational Background
Columbia University | Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior | 2016 – Present
Columbia University | M.A., M.Phil Neuroscience | 2016 – 2019
National Institutes of Health | Postbac IRTA | 2014 – 2016
(Section on Neurophysiology: Dr. Dax Hoffman)
Brandeis University | B.S. Neuroscience, B.A. Psychology | 2010 – 2014
Cum Laude with High Honors in Psychology
(Aging, Culture, and Cognition Lab: Dr. Angela Gutchess)
Latest News!
Fall 2022
Nina presents her first-author poster at Society for Neuroscience Conference in San Diego! Come learn about learning deficits in transgenic Cre mouse lines, a cautionary tale of selecting appropriate animal models.
Summer 2022
Congratulations to Nina for receiving the Chemers Neustein Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship at Rockefeller University! Also congrats to Shreya Kalavala for wrapping up her Master's thesis and heading off to medical school!
Spring 2022
Thrilled to share my work at the University of Utah's Rising Stars in Neuroscience Symposium! It was such a pleasure meeting faculty, students, and fellow Rising Stars in beautiful Salt Lake City.
Olivia presents on the role of cortical representations of proprioception in establishing spatially accurate visual memory at the Vision Sciences Society. Great to see this collaboration with Dr. Michael E. Goldberg taking shape!
Winter 2021
Our paper is out in Nature! In a beautiful collaboration with Dr. Ewoud Schmidt (former postdoc in Dr. Franck Polleux's lab, now running his own lab at the Medical University of South Carolina), we show that the human-specific modifier SRGAP2C alters the structure and function of cortical circuits and improves behavioral performance. The behavioral tour de force was collected during the middle of the COVID pandemic. I could not ask for better collaborators, mentors, and friends in Ewoud and Dr. Teresa Zhao. Congrats to the team, including superstar Jacob Dahan!
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04039-4
Fall 2021
It's official! I've been awarded the National Institute on Aging's F99/K00 predoc to postdoc transition grant that will fund the rest of my PhD at Columbia and the first four years of postdoc in aging research. After many years, I look forward to rejoining the field of aging.
Bonne nouvelle! I'll be attending the Ageing Cognition Cajal course hosted by Bordeaux School of Neuroscience! Many thanks to the CAJAL Advanced Neuroscience Training Programme for the generous CAJAL stipend. Time to learn some French...
Summer 2021
Latest collaboration with Dr. Chris Rodgers out now in Neuron!
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.05.019
Good luck to Nina Harano on her Summer Research Fellowship at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology! Send a postcard!
Spring 2021
Congrats to superstar Jacob Dahan on his graduation (with many honors!!!) from Columbia University! He is headed off to Washington University for a summer Amgen Scholars Program with Dr. Adam Kepecs, followed by a Research Fulbright Fellowship with Dr. Nadine Gogolla at the Max-Planck Institute of Neurobiology.