Jason Stein (PI) is an associate professor in the Department of Genetics and the Neuroscience Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received a BA from Northwestern University in the Integrated Science Program and then pursued post-baccalaureate work at the intramural program of the National Institute of Mental Health with Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg. He received his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles under Paul Thompson, where he worked on discovering the genetic influences on macroscale human brain structure. He also completed post-doctoral training at the University of California, Los Angeles under Dan Geschwind where he developed tools to evaluate how well neural stem cells model brain development and studied regulatory regions governing human neurogenesis.

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Nana Matoba joined the lab in 2019 as a post-doc, jointly advised by Hyejung Won. She earned her B.S. from Kyushu Institute of Technology (Dept. Biochemical Science and Engineering). After five years of experience as a system administrator/software engineer at Mitsubishi Space Software Co., Ltd, she earned her M.S. in Medical Science from Saitama Medical University. She completed her PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Tokyo under Tadafumi Kato, where she studied genetics of bipolar disorder through whole exome sequencing of trio families. Then, she studied GWASs of lifestyle related phenotypes in BioBank Japan Project at Lab for Statistical Analysis, RIKEN under Yoichiro Kamatani. She is interested in studying the genetic components of human behaviors. She joined Stein Lab to functionally annotate autism GWAS loci.

Jieun (Esther) is a post-doc in the UNC Neuroscience Center and is a Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (CIDD) Postdoctoral Fellow. She received her PhD in Cell Biology from Duke University with Dr. Michel Bagnat. Her PhD work focused on the development of specialized intestinal cells important for protein absorption. For her postdoc, she joined the Stein lab in March 2023 after deciding to switch gear and focus on neuroscience with the eventual goal to better understand the connection of brain and gut development. In the Stein lab, Esther is using brain organoids as a system to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms leading to cortical surface area expansion in autistic individuals early in life.

Brandon Le joined the lab in 2019 as a graduate student in the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology program. His project explores how human genetic variation impacts signaling pathways and proliferation in the developing brain. He first joined the lab in the fall of 2017 as a Research Technician before returning to the lab as a student in the spring of 2019. Previously, Brandon taught high school life science classes in Durham for several years and has a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Texas at Austin, and a M.S. in Neurobiology from Duke University. Bran completed his dissertation in 2023 in the Stein lab and is now a postdoc focusing on modeling gene x environment interactions in a dish.

Felix Kyere joined the Stein lab in 2020 as a graduate student in the Neuroscience program. He received his BS from Philander Smith College and then took up a postbaccalaureate position at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MA where he utilized both in vivo and in vitro models to explore molecular mechanisms of neuropsychiatric disorders. In the Stein lab, Felix is interested in using in vitro and in vivo models to understand how genetic variation leads to differences in behavior. His work focuses on understanding genetic influences on brain structure at cellular resolution using tissue cleared mouse brains.

Jordan Valone joined the Stein lab in the summer of 2019 as a Research Technician. He earned his B.S. in Biological Sciences in 2015 from NC State University. After a period of time working as a Metals Analyst in the environmental industry he returned to NC State where he earned a graduate certificate in Molecular Biotechnology and his Master of Physiology degree in 2019. After his stint as a research technician, Jordan joined the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology PhD program and is back in the lab now for his dissertation work. Jordan is interested in understanding stimulus specific effects of genetic variation.

Ian Curtin joined the lab in 2021 as a graduate student in the Genetics and Molecular Biology Program. He received his BEng in Biomedical Engineering from Munster Technological University and an MSc in Molecular Cell Biology with Bioinnovation from University College Cork. He has since worked for several start-ups in Ireland and Boston before moving Chapel Hill and is currently investigating how genetic variants affect neurodevelopment in tissue cleared mouse brains.

Miguel Cuevas joined the lab in 2023 as a graduate student in the Neuroscience program. He received his BS in Natural Sciences from the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey, completed a post-baccalaureate in Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Rochester, and a MA in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo. During his undergraduate studies, he completed a summer internship in David Andes's lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Miguel gained experience in microbiology & immunology from his undergraduate summer internship and post-baccalaureate work studying drug resistance mechanisms of the opportunistic yeast Candida albicans. During his MA project, he studied the role of transcription factors in neural stem cell differentiation. After completing his MA, Miguel worked as a Research Assistant for six years in the Hemali Phatnani lab at Columbia University and the New York Genome Center. In the Phatnani lab, he generated mouse models for cell-type specific translatomics and spatial transcriptomics studies to uncover the mechanism behind neurodegeneration. As a graduate student in the Stein Lab, Miguel is studying the role of maternal immune activation in neurodevelopmental disorders and working on methods to advance the maturity of human brain organoids.

Rubal Singla joined the lab in 2023 as a graduate student in the Neuroscience program. She received her Bachelor of Pharmacy and postbaccalaureate degree in Pharmacology where she worked on various in-vivo models of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Her current research focuses on understanding the mechanism behind different developmental trajectories in ASD using brain organoids.

Sam Zarnick joined the Stein lab in 2024 as a graduate student in the Neuroscience program. She earned a B.S. in Chemistry from UNC in 2019 during which she was an undergraduate researcher in the Lorenzo Lab. She then became a Research Technician in the Kay Lab at Duke University and went on to join the UNC MD-PhD program in 2021. She is interested in how genetic variation influences response to pharmacological treatments.

Ariana Marquez joined the lab in 2024 as a graduate student in the Neuroscience program. She earned her BS in Pharmaceutical Biological Chemistry in Mexico before coming to UNC in 2020 to work as a Research Associate in the Human Pluripotent Cell Core, where she focused on optimizing neuronal differentiation protocols. In the Stein lab, she continues using iPSCs models to explore the impact of genetic background on drug responses. Outside the lab, Ariana enjoys spending time with her husky, Dapi, and her dachshund, Chocorrola.

Meghana Yeturi graduated in spring 2023 from UNC Chapel Hill and majored in Neuroscience with a minor in Philosophy and Chemistry. Her goal is to attend medical school to become a neurologist. In 2023, Meghana became a research technician in the lab.

Alvaro Beltran earned his BS in Biopharmaceutical Chemistry in Mexico, with experience in molecular biology, primarily on protein expression and purification characterization. Alvaro joined the lab in October 2019 and is currently working on generating and differentiating human pluripotent stem cells.

Kaitlyn Pierce earned her B.S. from UNC in 2023, majoring in Neuroscience and Psychology and completing minors in Chemistry and Biology. She joined the Stein Lab in July 2023 as a research technician on the IBIS iPSC project, where she is working with to differentiate donor cell lines into organoids in order to research the mechanisms behind cortical surface area expansion in ASD.

Chinmay Singh is an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill majoring in Biomedical Engineering and minoring in Data Science and Neuroscience, expected to graduate in 2026. He joined the lab in spring of 2023 and is interested in researching biomarkers of Autism Spectrum Disorder using brain organoids and understanding the neurobiology and applications of stem cells in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric illnesses.

Veda Dayananda is a sophomore at East Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte. She joined the Stein Lab in the spring of 2021 and is interested in neuroscience and cellular biology.

Liam Davis is an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill, currently majoring in Biomedical Engineering. He joined the lab in the Spring of 2022 through the Nuclei Ninja project. His research interests include the mechanisms and genetic components of neurodegeneration.

Janelle Bachman Rodríguez is an undergraduate student at Nova Southeastern University majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Biology. She joined the Stein Lab in summer of 2024 as part of the Carolina Summer Fellowship program and is interested in researching the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of neurodevelopmental disorders such as ASD and ADHD.

Maria Hromcenco is an undergraduate student and Robertson Scholar majoring in Biology and Statistics at UNC Chapel Hill and minoring in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics at Duke University. She joined the Stein Lab in the fall of 2024 and is researching long-term differentiation of cortical organoids using scRNAseq data.

Christian McFadyen is an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Education. He joined the lab in the fall of 2024 and is interested in the intersection of neuropsychiatric diseases, genetics, and pharmacology.

Dr. Justin Wolter was a post-doc in the UNC Neuroscience Center and a CIDD T32 Post-Doctoral Fellow co-advised with Mark Zylka. Justin received his BS in Psychology at Utah State University, and earned his PhD at Arizona State University under the mentorship of Marco Mangone, where he studied the connection between evolution and targeting principles of microRNAs. In the Stein lab, Justin used genetically diverse human neural progenitor cells to study how common genetic variants influence molecular phenotypes associated with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. When not in the lab, Justin enjoys boating with the fam, brewing, and playing music. Justin was in the Stein lab from 2017-2023 and now is a professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison.

Dr. Young-Sook Kim joined the lab in 2022 as a post-doc. Young-Sook received a BS in Life Science with minor in Computer Science from Handong Global University, South Korea in 2016. Then Young-Sook earned PhD in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics program at Duke University under the mentorship of Tim Reddy in 2021. In the Stein lab, she used brain organoids to study molecular mechanism of idiopathic autism. Young-Sook went on to pursue bioinformatics in the biotech industry.

Dr. Nil Aygun joined the lab in 2019 as a graduate student in the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology program. She earned her B.S. in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Bilkent University, Ankara in 2016. During her bachelor study, in summer 2015, she worked in the group of Prof. Jürgen Knoblich at IMBA, Vienna, to establish an in vitro cerebellar organoids platform to model medulloblastoma. In 2018, she received her M.S in Neuroscience from Heidelberg University, Heidelberg in the group of Dr. Hai-Kun Liu, where she examined the role of chromatin remodeler CHD7 during early human brain development using cerebral organoid models. Nil is interested in mapping common genetic variants influencing gene expression profiles of neuronal cell types to better understand pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders. After completing her dissertation, she joined the lab of Rameen Beroukhim at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.

Dr. Rose Glass joined the lab in 2018 as a graduate student in the neuroscience program. She earned her B.S. in biology with honors from Haverford College in 2017. Her undergraduate thesis focused on early hippocampal circuitry development in pediatric epilepsy. She's interested in how genetic variations lead to different developmental trajectories. After completing her dissertation, she joined the lab of Mustafa Sahin at Boston Children’s.

Dr. Mike Lafferty joined the lab in 2017 as a graduate student within the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology program. He earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan in 2010. After graduation, Mike worked in Dr. Saskia Neher’s lab at UNC Chapel Hill studying mechanisms of lipase inhibition. He also has R&D experience at Research Triangle Park biopharmaceutical companies developing purification strategies for new therapeutics. Mike is interested in the computational challenges associated with large next generation sequencing datasets and ways these data can be used to understand human cortical development. After completing his dissertation, he joined Watershed Informatics as a bioinformatician.

Dr. Dan Liang joined the lab as a PhD student within the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology program. She earned her B.S. in Biology and Chemistry with honors from Jilin University. She earned her Master's degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Science. She joined the lab in 2016 and graduated in 2021. Her primary dissertation work focused on finding genetic variation associated with chromatin accessibility. After completing her dissertation, she pursued a postdoctoral fellowship under Nenad Sestan at Yale University.

Dr. Oleh Krupa joined the lab as a PhD candidate in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC - Chapel Hill and NC State. He earned his B.S. in Bioengineering and Masters in Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University. Afterwards he worked for two years at Rockefeller University studying the molecular mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease. Oleh is interested in applying his engineering skills towards expanding in vitro models of cortical development.  His primary dissertation project focused on developing analysis methods for micron scale tissue cleared images. He joined the lab in 2016 and graduated in 2021. After completing his dissertation, he joined Scribe Therapeutics as a scientist.

Karthik Eswar is an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill double majoring in Neuroscience and Computer Science, with a minor in Philosophy, Politics & Economics. He is interested in research at the intersection of neuroscience and computer science, with regard to neural development and, how technology could be used to further understanding of the brain.

Kexin Sun is a Biostatistics master's student who graduated from UNC. In undergrad, he majored in Genetics, which he earned from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  His current research interest involves bioinformatic analysis. Outside of the lab, his hobbies include basketball, badminton, reading, and taking road trips.

Tala Farah graduated in spring 2022 as an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill majoring in Neuroscience with minors in Chemistry and Music. She transferred as a sophomore after studying at Trinity College Dublin for her first year. Tala joined the lab December of 2019 and is interested in studying how genetic variation influences neural development and human brain structure. She transitioned into a research technician in 2022.

Karen Huang is an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill. She is majoring in biology with a minor in chemistry. Karen joined the lab in early 2019 and is interested in genetics and neuroscience.

Micah Baldonado is a rising sophomore at UNC Chapel Hill majoring in Biomedical Engineering under the UNC/NC State Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. He joined the lab in the summer of 2021. He plans to pursue graduate studies in the field of neural engineering, with a focus on neurodevelopmental disabilities.

Tianyi Liu joined the Stein lab in 2017 as an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill majoring in mathematics. He is interested in incorporating his mathematical skills into the studies in relevant fields such as biostatistics and bioinformatics. He was working on a project to automatically find and quantify cells in 3D microscopy images. He is now a graduate student at the UNC Biostatistics program.

Angela Elwell was the Lab Manager/Research Specialist for the Stein Lab at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.  She received her BS in biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Angela has worked in several labs across the UW-Madison campus, which included research in plant physiology, forest mycology, human clinical trials, and veterinary medicine research.  Her most recent position involved being a Senior Research Specialist at the Morgridge Institute for Research where she worked in James Thomson’s Lab to help facilitate next generation sequencing for various stem cell projects relating to regenerative biology.

Selene Barbosa Cardenas is an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill.  She transferred To UNC Chapel Hill in 2017 from Cape Fear Community College. She is double Majoring in Biochemistry and Neuroscience. Selene joined Stein Lab through the summer research program SMART in 2018.

Zachary Humphrey completed his work as an undergraduate student who began studying at UNC Chapel Hill in 2014. He majored in Quantitative Biology and Computer Science. He joined the lab in 2017. He worked on a project to automatically find and quantify cells in 3D microscopy images.

Shana Hall completed a postdoctoral rotation in the lab in 2016 as part of her T32 training grant from the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities. She is currently working with Dr. Jessica Cohen at the University of North Carolina investigating disruptions in neural networks and in learning in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Kerry Cheek worked extensively on a high throughput cell culture differentiation project while working in the Stein Lab.  She completed working in the Stein Lab as a Research Technician in August 2017 to pursue a MS in Environmental Sciences at University of Edinburgh.  

Leo Zsembik became an undergraduate at UNC Chapel Hill in the fall of 2015. He is currently working on a double major in biology and psychology with a minor in chemistry. He joined the lab in March of 2016 and is interested in understanding how genetic variation influences human brain structure.  Leo complete his work in the lab in August 2017 to start a internship in Martin Styner lab.  

Lindsey Molina is an undergraduate of UNC Chapel Hill's class of 2020. She is majoring in Nutrition and is interested in the field of medicine. She joined the Stein Lab in the spring of 2017 and is looking at how genetic variation influences the morphology of human neurons.  Lindsey complete her work in the lab in September 2017 to focus on her degree.

Kenan Courtney joined the Stein Lab as a Research Technician in August 2017. He received his B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After graduating, Kenan joined the National Institute of Mental Health as a Research Fellow for two years, where he investigated circadian gene expression in NPCs.  Kenan completed his work in the lab in December 2017 to obtain a Master’s degree in Public Health at Harvard University.

Amanda Tapia joined the lab in 2019 as a doctoral student in Biostatistics. She earned her B.A in Spanish with minors in mathematics and neuroscience from Regis University and earned her M.S. in Biostatistics from UNC - Chapel Hill. Under the advisement of Yun Li, Amanda’s dissertation research has focused on transcriptome-wide association studies of blood cell phenotypes in large European cohorts and metabolome-wide association studies in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. Now jointly advised by Mike Love and the Stein lab, Amanda will primarily work on statistical models for causality in multi-level QTL analyses.

Suh Lee earned her BS in Psychology-Biology, Philosophy at UCLA, her MD at New York Medical College, is board certified in emergency medicine after completing her residency at Duke University Medical Center in 2018. She is currently in pursuit of a fellowship in Palliative Care to start July 2020. She has prior research experience in the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) developing clinical, imaging, genetic and biomarkers for the early detection & tracking of Alzheimer’s disease while at the Laboratory of NeuroImaging in Los Angeles. She worked on tissue clearing applications in the Stein lab.

Ellie Hadden-Ford was an undergraduate research assistant. She majored in biology with minors in neuroscience and computer science. Ellie joined the lab in fall 2017. She graduated in 2020 after completing an honors thesis in the lab and graduated with highest honors.

Grace Morningstar was an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill. She majored in biology with a minor in neuroscience. Grace joined the lab in fall 2018. She graduated in 2020 after completing an honors thesis in the lab.

Jessica Mory graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 2020 majoring in biology and neuroscience with a minor in chemistry. She joined the lab in summer 2018 as an undergraduate researcher. She completed her honors thesis and graduated with highest honors. After graduation, she joined the lab as a technician.

Jessica McAfee joined in late 2018 as the Lab Manager and Research Technician for the Stein lab and Won lab at UNC Chapel Hill. She earned her B.S. in Biology at UNC Chapel hill. Her undergraduate research focused on using CRISPR/Cas9 on Arabidopsis thaliana and rice. She went on to work at NC State, and then lived in Japan for a year.

Carolyn McCormick joined in January 2020 as a Research Technician. She earned her B.S. in mechanical engineering from Lafayette College in 2009. She also has dual Master’s degrees: one in mechanical engineering from Purdue University (2011) and one in biomedical engineering conferred jointly between UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State (2017). Carolyn’s experience includes medical device product development and pre-clinical/clinical research support. She is interested in understanding how genetic variations may affect brain structure in neuropsychiatric illness.

Niyanta Patel graduated as an undergraduate at UNC Chapel Hill majoring in Psychology with minors in Neuroscience and Creative Writing. She joined the lab in December 2020 as a Research Technician working on cell culture models of neurodevelopment and the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Shivam Bhargava graduated spring 2022 as an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill majoring in Neuroscience with minors in Social & Economic Justice and Education. He is originally from Indianapolis, Indiana. Shivam joined the lab in early 2019 and is interested in research about developmental disabilities and neurobiology.

Sydney Olson graduated spring 2021 as an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill majoring in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Entrepreneurship. She joined the lab fall of 2020 and is interested in researching neurobiology and genetics.

Carla Escobar graduated spring 2022 as an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill double majoring in Quantitative Biology and Hispanic Literatures and Cultures with a minor in Neuroscience. She joined the lab in the fall of 2020 and is interested in research about the roles of genetics in neurodevelopment, specifically looking at how they affect brain structure.

Jade Hardwick graduated as both a Neuroscience and Chemistry major and previously worked with the Stein Lab for a year on the tracing project. In the future, she wants to study biochemistry and help research and find cures for various genetic diseases.

Rohan Kumar was an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill double majoring in Neuroscience and Computer Science. He joined the lab in Summer 2021 and is interested in neural stem cells and their applications for treatment of stroke and neurodegenerative diseases.

Stefano Dongowski was an undergraduate at UNC double majoring in Computer Science and Philosophy. He joined the lab in early 2021 and his research interests include machine learning and image analysis. Stefano also plans on continuing his interest for research by pursuing his PhD in Computer Science after graduation.

Telissa Reynolds was an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill majoring in Neuroscience. She joined the lab in the summer of 2021. She is from Atlanta, Georgia where she enjoys mentoring the future generation of STEM professionals of color through her genetics nonprofit, Gene Shorts.

Maryam Moghul is an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill majoring in neuroscience with a minor in chemistry. She joined the lab in spring of 2021, and is interested in research with regards to neurobiology and understanding its relationship with genetics, as well as how this relationship impacts psychology.