LAB TEAM
PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR
DR. HOWARD J. GRITTON
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Assistant Professor, Comparative Biosciences
Assistant Professor, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
Assistant Professor, Bioengineering
Email: hgritton@illinois.edu
Phone: 1-217-265-0127
View Dr. Gritton’s Profile in Google Scholar
TEAM MEMBERS
OLIVER QU
PhD GRADUATE STUDENT
Bioengineering Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Email: zhiliqu2@illinois.edu
LAB: VMBSB 3636
OFFICE: VMBSB 3635
Oliver is currently a PhD candidate majoring in Bioengineering. His research primarily explores the mechanisms of cortical inhibition and attention in the context of complex auditory scene analysis. Additionally, Oliver works on utilizing advanced machine learning techniques to identify features in neural data that are important for sound source perception.
RACHAEL BELL
PhD GRADUATE STUDENT
Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Email: rabell2@illinois.edu
LAB: VMBSB 3636
OFFICE: VMBSB 3635
Rachael is a PhD student in the Neuroscience program is looking at how the cholinergic system plays a role in auditory discrimination and whether that system is disrupted in ASD. She will be using optogenetics and fiber photometry to study this.
Rachael received a bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
SELIN AKTUNA
PhD GRADUATE STUDENT
Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Email: saktun2@illinois.edu
LAB: VMBSB 3636
OFFICE: VMBSB 3635
Selin received her B.S. in Psychology with a Neuroscience distinction from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and is currently a PhD candidate in the Neuroscience program. Selin is currently examining the effects of prenatal phthalate exposure on the increased severity and earlier onset cognitive deficits and Alzheimer’s Disease pathophysiology.
BO YUAN
PhD GRADUATE STUDENT
Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Email: boy6@illinois.edu
LAB: VMBSB 3636
OFFICE: VMBSB 3635
Bo is a Neuroscience graduate student who joined the lab in 2023. He employs electrophysiology and calcium imaging techniques to explore how interneurons in the striatum modulate motor control under healthy conditions and under conditions of dopamine depletion that mimic Parkinson’s disease.
Education
BS in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Shandong University, 2021
MS in Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, 2023
LAB ALUMNI
NEELIMA VALLURU
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER
Major: Neuroscience
Minor: Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Email: neelima.r.valluru@gmail.com
LAB: VMBSB 3636
BEULAH LEE
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER
Major: Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Email: beulahl2@illinois.edu
LAB: VMBSB 3636