Trainees

Learn more about our trainees!

2022-2023 PGY-I Research Track Residents

Johansen Amin, M.D., Ph.D.

Johansen completed his M.D., Ph.D. training at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. His doctoral studies in the Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology focused on synaptic physiology of NMDA receptors and their disease-associated mutations.

2022-23 PGY-II Research Track Residents

Jack Hunt, M.D., Ph.D.

Jack joins us from the University of Wisconsin, where he earned an M.D. and Ph.D. (Cellular and Molecular Biology). In his doctoral work under the mentorship of Dr. Barbara Bendlin, he investigated neighborhood-level social disadvantage as a risk factor for neurodegeneration and cognitive decline in older adults.

Jacqui Kulbe, M.D., Ph.D.

Jacqui joins us from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, where she completed her doctoral studies in Neuroscience. She worked under Dr. Edward Hall within the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center. Her dissertation focused on assessing putative neuroprotective compounds in a rodent model to traumatic brain injury, with a specific emphasis on attenuating mitochondrial dysfunction and scavenging lipid peroxidation-derived aldehydes. She has published extensively in the field of traumatic brain injury and is the recipient of an NINDS F30 NRSA Fellowship.

2022-23 PGY-III Research Track Resident

Monica Castillo, M.D., M.S.

Monica earned her B.S. at Stanford University and her M.S. and M.D. at Loyola University in Chicago. Her research has focused on inflammatory biomarkers and novel therapeutics in Bipolar Disorder. In our program, she is continuing to study the role of inflammation in psychopathology under the mentorship of Dr. Suzi Hong.

2022-23 PGY-IV Research Track Residents

David Adamowicz, M.D., Ph.D.

David earned his M.D. and Ph.D. (Neurosciences) at UCSD. He studied age-related neurodegenerative disease under Dr. Rusty Gage at the Salk Institute. Before his time at UCSD, David worked in the Hyman Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital, studying tau pathology and loss of synaptic plasticity in Alzheimer's disease. His current projects focus on inflammatory biomarkers in neurodegenerative and psychotic disorders, under the mentorship of Drs. Dilip Jeste and Ellen Lee.

Tom Dixon, M.D., Ph.D.

Tom received his M.D./Ph.D. at the Tufts School of Medicine MSTP after finishing his B.A. in Chemistry from Pomona College. His doctoral studies were in the field of Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology where he investigated in vitro human neuromuscular junctions using novel tissue engineering techniques. Tom's current research focuses on electrophysiological and cytoarchitectural analyses of stem cell-derived brain organoids after pharmacological, magnetic or electrical manipulations. He is working in the laboratory of Dr. Alysson Muotri.

Examples of past R25-funded Research Track Residents

• Sara Timtim, M.D. is pursuing a Post-doctoral Fellowship in PTSD/Trauma Research at the UCSF-affiliated San Francisco VA MIRECC
• Matthew Klein, M.D., Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and is funded by a VA Career Development Award and a Young Investigator Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
• Juan Molina, M.D. is an Assistant Professor in the UCSD Department of Psychiatry, pursuing studies in the clinical neuroscience of schizophrenia, funded by his VA Career Development Award and BBRF Young Investigator Award.
• Samantha Friend, M.D., Ph.D. is an Attending Psychiatrist with the San Diego VA Center for Stress and Mental Health and is continuing her translational studies supported by a new VA Career Development Award.
• Yash Joshi, M.D., Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the UCSD Department of Psychiatry, pursuing transdiagnostic electrophysiological studies supported by his VA Career Development Award and BBRF Young Investigator Award.
• Mercedes Szpunar, M.D., Ph.D. is pursuing academic research with an appointment at the Harvard Medical School Center for Women's Mental Health, Massachusetts General Hospital.
• Alejandro Meruelo, M.D., Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in our UCSD Department of Psychiatry, pursuing research supported by his NIAAA K-23 Award.