Heather Richardson, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator | hrichardson@cns.umass.edu

Heather is an Associate Professor and Behavioral Neuroscience Head in the department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. She has an extensive background in 

developmental neuroendocrinology, sex differences and preclinical rodent models of alcohol use disorder.

Andrea Silva-Gotay

Ph.D. Candidate | asilvagotay@umass.edu

Andy is a Neuroscience and Behavior graduate student in the Richardson Lab. Her research focuses on elucidating the role of sex hormones on the myelination of the prefrontal cortex and amygdala circuits during adolescence.

Barbara de Oliveira

Undergraduate Research Assistant | bgdeoliveira@umass.edu

Barbara is an undergraduate pursuing a degree in Animal Sciences Veterinary track. She joined the lab in Fall of 2019 and assists Annabelle with her research on sex differences in alcohol intake.

Nabil Amira

Undergraduate Research Assistant |namira@umass.edu

Nabil is pursuing degrees in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and Psychology on the Neuroscience track. He joined the lab in the fall of 2021.

Saïd Akli, Ph.D.

Senior Research Associate | sakli@umass.edu

Saïd joined the lab in January 2018. His project focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying the myelination of corticolimbic circuits during adolescence and how alcohol impacts this developmental process.

Annabelle Flores-Bonilla

Graduate Student | afloresbonil@umass.edu

Annabelle is a Neuroscience and Behavior graduate student in the Richardson Lab. She first joined in the Summer of 2019 as a PREP student and studies the sex differences in alcohol drinking behavior.

Rithika Senthilkumar

Undergraduate Honors Student | rithikasenth@umass.edu

Rithika is pursuing degrees in Biochemistry and public health. For her honors thesis, she is investigating how alcohol impacts oligodendrocyte lineage during adolescence in male and female mice.

Anumeha Rajvanshi

Undergraduate Research Assistant | anumeharajva@umass.edu

Anumeha joined our lab fall 2021. She is pursuing degrees in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Psychology on the Neuroscience track.

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