Current Members
Dr. Susanne Schmid
Email: susanne.schmidATschulich.uwo.ca
Professor of Neurobiology
Vice-Dean of Basic Medical Sciences
Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Susanne Schmid studied Biology in Tübingen (Germany) and São Paulo (Brazil). She was trained as an electrophysiologist (patch-clamp recordings in brain slices) during her PhD working at the University Eye Hospital in Tübingen under Dr. Guenther and Professor Zrenner. Dr. Schmid started her own independent group in 2000 in the Animal Physiology Department (Professor Schnitzler) at the University of Tübingen, Germany. In 2006, she spent a year at the University of Toronto as a Heisenberg Fellow working with John Yeomans, before she moved to Western in 2007.
Dr. Schmid was always interested in synaptic plasticity, first during retinal development, and later, when she founded her own group, in relation to behavioural plasticity and learning. Habituation of startle is an excellent model to explore cellular and molecular mechanisms of learning in mammals. Habituation is also a sensory filtering mechanism, therefore she started to study other sensory filtering mechanisms as well, most importantly prepulse inhibition. Both habituation and prepulse inhibition are also measured in humans and are clinically highly relevant.
Lab Technicians
Cleusa De Oliveira
Cleusa is the lab technician/manager. She is responsible for all the ordering in the Lab and she also helps all the students with their projects. Cleusa works with the animals, doing surgeries and behavioral tests. She also works with immunohistochemistry experiments and PCR tests. Cleusa just loves her work!
Email: Cleusa.deoliveiraATschulich.uwo.ca
Outside of the lab, she loves to spend time with her family and her shih-tzu dog, Dodo.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Niveen Fulcher
Niveen is a Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Matthew Hebb’s Neuro-oncology (brain cancer) lab where she applies skills obtained throughout her Graduate studies with the Schmidlab.
Email: nfulcherATuwo.ca
Where it all began: Niveen completed her HBSc degree at the University of Toronto where she worked primarily in Dr. Robert Gerlai’s Behavioural Genetics Lab studying a variety of social, anxiety, and neurochemical phenomena in zebrafish. In September 2016, Niveen began as a MSc candidate in Neuroscience in the Schmid lab where the stars delightfully shifted her towards the rat model. The goal was to uncover underlying mechanisms of sensory filtering and sensorimotor gating; specifically, Niveen examined the tegmental areas of the midbrain on a cellular level using chemogenetics (DREADDs). By inhibiting particular cell types within these areas, Niveen aimed to elucidate normal and disrupted functioning of prepulse inhibition to better understand why patients with particular psychiatric illnesses, like Schizophrenia and Autism Spectrum Disorder, show deficits in sensory filtering. Following a long, eventful & fruitful road, she successfully defended her
PhD in July 2022.
Now: Niveen still works closely with the Schmidlab, continues to enjoy research as she employs rat intercranial stereotaxic surgery and immunohistochemistry skills, while obtaining new skills such as culturing human-derived tumour cells, making organoids and spheroids, and ultimately working towards a treatment model for the devastating and currently untreatable glioblastoma (GBM).
Outside of the lab, Niveen enjoys volleyball, reading, socializing, and snowboarding in the wintertime (although, has not snowboarded since 2017!). Visiting family abroad – and travel in general – is on Niveen’s priority life-list, as well.
Twitter: @nivful
Instagram: @nivful
Graduate Students
Simon Benoit
Simon is a PhD candidate in the Schmid lab. His work under the supervision of Dr. Schmid and Dr. Matthew Hebb looks at developing a personalized autologous cell-based therapy for Parkinson's Disease (PD) using brain-derived progenitor cells obtained from cortical biopsies taken from patients living with PD. The same brain samples also yield a unique source of DNA/RNA that is being examined using next-generation sequencing techniques, such as RNAseq, to examine pathophysiological changes in the Parkinsonism brain which could lead to discovering new mechanisms, biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for PD.
Email: sbenoiATuwo.ca
PhD Candidate
When not hard at work, Simon mostly enjoys spending time with his family and doing outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, running and gardening.
Ella Doornaert
Ella is a PhD student in the Neuroscience program. She is co-supervised by Dr. Susanne Schmid and Dr. Brian Allman. Her project examines the genetic and environmental effects on symptom development in the Cntnap2-knockout rat model for autism spectrum disorder. Ella completed her BSc at Western University in the Neuroscience Honors Specialization program. She worked in the Schmid lab throughout her undergraduate degree in which she completed an independent research credit and a fourth-year thesis project.
Email: edoornaeATuwo.ca
PhD Candidate
Outside of the lab, Ella is the co-captain of the Western Varsity Wrestling team. She enjoys reading, traveling, and doing yoga in her spare time.
Alaa El-Cheikh Mohamad
Alaa is a PhD student in the Schmid lab; she is co-supervised by Dr. Susanne Schmid and Dr. Brian Allman. Her journey in science began at the University of Windsor where she completed her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience with a thesis examining the effect of noise on fish foraging behaviours. Currently, Alaa's research in the Schmid Lab focuses on investigating the underlying neural mechanisms of auditory sensory processing and the disruption of this processing in the CNTNAP2 knockout rat model.
Email: aelcheikATuwo.ca
PhD Candidate
Outside of the lab, Alaa likes to read, try new dessert recipes, and watch Disney movies.
Rajkamalpreet Mann
Rajkamal is a PhD candidate in the Neuroscience program in the Schmid lab. During her undergraduate thesis she studied pre-attentive reflexive as well as perceptual behaviours in the CNTNAP2 knockout rat model of autism, in order to study the underlying mechanisms of auditory processing deficits seen in these rats. She is now utilizing patch clamp electrophysiology, specifically investigating brain areas in the auditory information processing pathways, to understand these auditory processing deficits in the CNTNAP2 knockout rats at a cellular level.
Email: rmann44ATuwo.ca
PhD Candidate
In her spare time she likes to get out and about and explore new places, and spend time with family and friends. She is a foodie and loves to add her own touch to cuisines when she is cooking.
Ala'a Seif
Ala is a PhD student in the Neuroscience program. She completed her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in biomedical engineering at Rafik Hariri University in Lebanon, where she investigated the use of ECG for personal identification and recognition.
Ala is currently studying sensory filtering and sensorimotor gating, and whether they are linked to brainstem development in autism. She is co-supervised by Dr. Susanne Schmid and Dr. Ryan Stevenson.
Email: aseif5ATuwo.ca
PhD Candidate
Outside of the lab, Ala enjoys reading fiction and exploring new places.
Elizabeth Fenton
Liz is a MSc student in Anatomy and Cell Biology at Western. She completed her HBSc in Neuroscience at Western University, where her undergraduate thesis evaluated the effect of a novel electrotherapy on glioblastoma cell viability. Currently, Liz is developing a patient derived xenograft model of a paediatric brainstem cancer (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma) in immunodeficient rats. Concurrently, she investigates how the knockdown of Heat Shock Transcription Factor 1 protein impacts cell viability in this cancer.
Email: efenton4ATuwo.ca
MSc Candidate
Outside the lab, she enjoys going on hikes with her dog, experimenting in the kitchen, and participating in movie nights with her friends.
Hannah Pineda
Hannah is a MSc student in the Neuroscience program at Western. She completed her HBSc in Kinesiology at McMaster University, where she completed a lab practicum and undergraduate thesis studying the impact of CARM1-knockout on fasting- and aging-induced skeletal muscle atrophy and ultimately led her to a love for research. Currently, Hannah is using whole cell patch clamp recordings of auditory structures in the brain to investigate acute and chronic impacts of R-baclofen injections at the cellular level in the Cntnap2-knockout rat during a critical period of auditory development.
Email: hpineda2ATuwo.ca
MSc Candidate
Outside of the lab, Hannah has a diverse realm of interests including reading, weightlifting, hiking, yoga, painting, thrifting, listening to music, and going out with friends. She also spends too much time showing other people pictures of her cat, TJ.
Alice Zheng
Email: azheng22ATuwo.ca
MD/PhD Candidate
Alice is an MD/PhD candidate in the Neuroscience program. Alice graduated from Western University with an Honors Specialization in Physiology and Pharmacology. She is being co-supervised by Dr. Schmid and Dr. Allman. Her research uses electrophysiological techniques to investigate brain regions that may be altered in the Cntnap2 knock-out rat model of ASD.
Outside of the lab, Alice enjoys drawing, watching Marvel movies, and yoga.
Research Assistants
Gurwinder Johal
Email: gjohal6ATuwo.ca
Gurwinder first started in the lab as a volunteer analyzing behavioural videos and entering data. He then completed a summer research internship exploring the effects of genetics and the environment on the social behaviour of Cntnap2-knockout rats. He is now continuing his fourth-year Honours thesis project as a Research Assistant in the lab by investigating the effects of R-Baclofen on the sensory processing and behaviour of Cntnap2-knockout autism spectrum disorder model rats when injections are made during auditory development.
Outside of the lab, Gurwinder enjoys drawing, listening to music, and trying new foods.
Scholar's Electives, Honors Thesis, and Independent Study Students
Nita Chan
Email: tchan425ATuwo.ca
Honors Thesis Student
Fourth Year Undergraduate
Nita is a fourth-year undergraduate honours specialization in Neuroscience student at Western University. She is completing her fourth-year thesis in the Schmid Lab where she investigates the effects of the rearing environment on oxytocin levels within Cntnap2-KO rat models for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). She started off working in the lab as a work-study student screening abstracts for a scoping review and analyzing data on MATLAB.
Outside the lab, Nita enjoys going to the gym and playing volleyball intramurals with her friends. She also loves exploring London cafes to find the best coffee in town.
Dami Solaja
Email: osolajaATuwo.ca
Honors Thesis Student
Fourth Year Undergraduate
Dami is a fourth-year undergraduate honours specialization Neuroscience student at Western University. She is completing a fourth-year thesis project under the supervision of Dr.Schmid. She will investigate the properties and recruitment of spinal cord alpha motor neurons in Cntnap2-KO adult rats. She previously completed an independent study investigating giant neurons in the Caudal Pontine Reticular Nucleus in Cntnap2 juvenile rats through the use of immunohistochemistry.
Outside the lab, Dami enjoys going to the gym, reading, and travelling.
Karshana Suthakaran
Karshana is a fourth-year undergraduate student doing an Honours Specialization in One Health. She began volunteering in the Schmid lab in her second year with assisting Melvin with his investigation regarding Prenatal Cannabis Exposure (PCE) on the cognitive development of offspring. Currently, she is doing her Honors Thesis. Her project examines the impact of Environment Enrichment on autism-related Phenotypes in Cntnap2-KO rats. She does startle testing, open field testing, and social behavioural testing on these rates throughout the year.
Email: ksuthakATuwo.ca
Honors Thesis Student
Fourth Year Undergraduate
Outside of the lab, Karshana is a Faculty Science Soph, VP Student Support on Science Student Council, and President of UNICEF Western. She spends her time tutoring young kids in London and working at Taylor Library. She also loves walking her dog Milo, reading Jane Austen novels and listening to music.
Visiting Students
Work Study Students
Parth Patel
Email: ppate442ATuwo.ca
Third Year Undergraduate
Parth is a third-year undergraduate work study student in the Schmid Lab completing an Honors Specialization in Physiology. He is from St. Catharine's, Ontario and he is working toward his Medical Sciences degree here at Western University. Parth joined the lab due to his interest in Neuroscience and behavioral studies. He is currently assisting Alice with her project regarding brain regions that may be altered in the Cntnap2 knock-out rat model of autism spectrum disorder.
Outside of the lab, Parth likes to be active and play sports, primarily playing badminton and squash. He also loves to spend some evenings indoors, reading fiction novels with a cup of tea by his side.
Volunteers
Josephine Lau
Josephine is a volunteer website developer at the Schmid Lab. She graduated from Western University with an Honors Double Major in Medical Sciences and Biology in 2014 and a Bachelors of Nursing Science in 2016. She started working as Dr. Schmid's work study student in 2013 and continued on as a volunteer after graduation. Using WordPress, Google, and CSS programming, she created Dr. Schmid's website and regularly keeps it updated.
Email: jlau248ATuwo.ca
Outside of volunteering, Josephine likes working in well-resourced fast-paced hospital units, participating in bedside patient care, working with the vulnerable population in the community, advocating for patients, keeping up with the latest public health initiatives, and taking post-graduate nursing courses to keep her knowledge updated. Hobby-wise, she enjoys singing, playing piano, listening to music, reading, keeping up with current events, traveling, cooking up a storm, hiking, going to the gym, spending time with friends and family, cuddling with her cat, and relaxing until her next set of shifts.
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