Welcome to our lab!

Current and former members of the lab have come from many different countries, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and scientific disciplines. We do our best research as a team, combining the expertise and perspectives that each individual brings to a project. See the Collaborations page for more information. 

Members of the Retinal Circuits Lab

We are committed to diversity and inclusion. 

Greg D. Field, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Joan and Jerome Snyder Vision Science Chair
Assistant Director of Research,
Jules Stein Eye Institute
Department of Ophthalmology
David Geffen School of Medicine
University of California, Los Angeles
[email protected]

I have a long-standing interest in how the retina converts light into electrical signals that are sent to the rest of the brain. I want to understand how this process contributes to vision and how we can leverage an understanding of retinal function to treat blindness. 

Alex Gallego, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

 A current Postdoctoral Fellow whose interests are understanding the remodeling of retinal circuits in early steps of physio-pathologies. 

Marija Rudzite

Ph.D. Student

Project titles:
- Determining the signals sent by retinal ganglion cells to superior colliculus
Determining how GABA inhibition shapes information processing in the retina

I'm a “bi-coastal” graduate student at Duke Neurobiology Ph.D. program working with the Sommer Lab to understand what visual signals the retina sends to different brain regions. I'm also interested in how the synaptic organization of retinal circuits relates to mathematical descriptions of neural code and visual processing. As a training retinal physiologist, I spend most of my time in the dark, but when I do see the light, I love to be outside hiking, gardening, or biking.

Learn more: Research projects

Bryant Cruz

Staff Research Associate

A driven science professional with a passion for understanding how our eyes and neural network work as one to explain what we see. 

Nilou Ghazavi

Ph.D. Student

Kais Saradi

Staff Research Associate II

With a background in Biology and Computer Science, I am interested in computational biology and the development of precise models for studying biological systems. I am excited by the challenge of integrating data to understand retinal circuits.

In my free time, I like to go out and enjoy the outdoors, whether its hiking, snowboarding, or fly fishing.

Yasmine Tani

Staff Research Associate

A current SRA interested in the intersection between neuroscience
and data analytics. 

Fun fact: I enjoy writing my own music and am an avid thrifter.

Rohan Joshi

Undergraduate

Major: Neuroscience

Fun Fact: I’m deep water SCUBA certified and have dove over 25 times

Interest in the lab: Using open-source software to generate 3D models of cricket hunting behaviors and quantify retinal degeneration of mice

Ziane Djenidi

Undergraduate

Major: Neuroscience

Fun Fact: My longest-running hobby is filmmaking which I have been doing since I was in 3rd grade. However, I only got my first real camera last year.

Interests in the lab: I am interested in learning about the mechanism that allows our eyes to adjust to different light situations.

Patience Okani

Undergraduate

Major: Physiological Science major

Hello! My name is Patience Okani and I am a 4th year Physiological Science major!

Interests in the lab: I am really excited to learn more about visual processing, as well as the components of the nervous system that help translate the world to what we see in person.

Fazil Onuralp

Undergraduate

Major: Electrical Engineering, minor in Neuroscience.
Fun fact: There is supposed to be a photo of my leg in a scientific paper somewhere
Interests in the Lab: I am interested in modeling retinal circuits with machine learning tools, improving my understanding of neuronal circuits and machine learning simultaneously.

Alumni

Miranda Scalabrino, Ph.D.

Current role:
Assistant Professor position in the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences at Medical College of Wisconsin

Previous:
Postdoctoral Fellow

Suva Roy, Ph.D.

Current role:
Assistant Professor position in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at University of Utah

Previous:
Postdoctoral Fellow

Anthony Tarakji

Current: Medical Student, University of Chicago

Previous role: Staff Research Associate

Sarah Proctor

Current: Graduate Student, Biomedical Engineering, Duke University

Previous role: Staff Research Associate

Mishek Thapa

Current: Medical Student , University of CA, Los Angeles


Previous role: Staff Research Associate

Jon Cafaro, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow and Senior Research Associate

Sneha Ravi, Ph.D.

Graduate Student

Kiersten Ruda, Ph.D.

Graduate Student

Na Young Jun, Ph.D.

Graduate Student

Xiaoyang Yao, Ph.D.

Graduate Student

Wan-Qing Yu, Ph.D.

Graduate Student

Rod Shayesteh, M.D.

Research Technician

Teleza Westbrook

Research Technician

Emily Chen, M.D.

Undergraduate Student

Ashley Zhou

Undergraduate Student

Esther Zhang

Undergraduate Student

Benjamin Perry

Undergraduate Student