people

Ishmail received a doctorate in cell and molecular biology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2012. After two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Weill Cornell Medical College, he returned to the University of Pennsylvania, where he continued four more years of postdoctoral training and in 2018 he joined the faculty as an assistant professor of biology. In 2021, he moved to Columbia University, where he is currently an assistant professor of biological sciences in the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute.

Selected Honors and Awards  |  curriculum vitae

• Pew Biomedical Scholar  (2022)
• Brain Research Foundation Award (2022)
• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellow (2021)
• Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences (2021)
• Rita Allen Foundation Scholar (2020)
• NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award (2017)
• Burroughs Wellcome Fund PDEP Fellow (2015)

Features/Interviews

In the lab with Ishmail Abdus-Saboor (YouTube) (2022)
“Behind the CV Interview” with Penn’s MindCore (YouTube) (2021)
Q and A Feature Interview for Neuron (2021)

Andrea Subotic

Lab Coordinator
(2021 – present )
B.S., UC Berkeley
M.A., Cal State University
as5515 [at] columbia.edu

Anissa Jhumka, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow
(2021 – present )
B.S., Ph.D., Aix-Marseille University, France
aj3020 [at] columbia.edu

Andre Toussaint, Ph.D.

Simons Junior Fellow
BWF PDEP Fellow
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2022 –  )
Ph.D., Temple University
at3658 [at] columbia.edu

Brittany Bistis

Biological Sciences PhD student
(2022 – present)
B.A., Yale University
bb2977 [at] columbia.edu

Justin Burdge

Biological Sciences PhD student
(2020 – present)
B.S., University of Pennsylvania
jb4582 [at] columbia.edu

Rachel Frazer

NSF Graduate Research Fellow
SFN Neuroscience Scholar
Neuro & Behavior PhD student
(2021 – present)
B.A., Wellesley College
ref2154 [at] columbia.edu

Ryan Schwark

Biological Sciences PhD student
(2020 – present)
B.S., Elizabethtown College
rs4192 [at] columbia.edu

Jared Boyce

Technician (2021 – present)
A.B., Dartmouth College
Sc.M., Brown University
jeb2298 [at] columbia.edu
Next: MD-PhD student @ UWisconsin-Madison

Isabella Succi

Technician (2020 – present)
B.S., St. Joseph’s University
is2687 [at] columbia.edu
Next: PhD student @ Columbia U

Phalaen Chang

Undergraduate
(2021 – present)
pc2908 [at] columbia.edu

Simon Ogundare

Undergraduate
(2022 – present)
soo2111 [at] columbia.edu

Alexis Imani Marshall

Undergraduate
(2021 – present)
aim2141 [at] columbia.edu

Wadzanayi Mayiseni

Undergraduate
(2021 – present)
wmm2129 [at] columbia.edu

Heather Rossi, Ph.D.

Research Associate, 2018 – 2021
B.S., UNC Ashville
Ph.D., University of Florida
Current: Research Associate in the Herbert lab @UPenn

Leah Middleton Elias

NIH NRSA F31 Fellow
PhD Student, 2018 – 2022
B.A., Mount Holyoke College
Next: Postdoc @ Johns Hopkins

Melanie Schaffler

NIH NRSA F31 Fellow
Neuroscience PhD Student
(2018 – 2020)
B.A., Wesleyan University

William Foster

Technician, 2018 – 2021
B.A., Haverford College
Current: Tech @ Columbia U
Next: PhD student @ Columbia U

Jessica Jones

Technician, 2018 – 2020
B.S., UC Santa Cruz
Current: PhD student @ UWashington

Justin Arnold

Undergraduate, 2019 – 2021
Current: Research Assistant @UPenn
Next: MD student @ Northwestern U

Justin Burdge

Undergraduate, 2018 – 2019
B.S., University of Pennsylvania
Current:  PhD student in the lab

Lucie Pham

Undergraduate, 2019 – 2021
B.S., University of Pennsylvania
Current:  Analyst, Clearview Healthcare Partners

Samuel Kaufmann

Undergraduate, 2019 – 2020
Current: Research Assistant @ UPenn