Lab Members
Ellen studied Biochemistry at SUNY Stony Brook and received her MD from SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine. As a medical student, she worked in the laboratory of Gail Mandel of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Ellen did her residency in Psychiatry and fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where she worked in the laboratories of Deanna Benson and Joseph Buxbaum. She then completed a research fellowship in Childhood-Onset Neuropsychiatric Disorders at the Yale Child Study Center and received her PhD in Investigative Medicine from Yale University in the laboratories of Matthew State and Antonio Giraldez. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Yale Child Study Center and the Yale Department of Neuroscience.
Priyanka Jamadagni, PhD
Post-Doctoral Associate
Email: priyanka.jamadagni@yale.edu
Priyanka was born and raised in India. She received her BS-MS dual degree from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali in 2016. During her undergraduate studies, she worked with a range of model organisms from Drosophila melanogaster to mice before deciding zebrafish was her one true love. During her PhD, she worked on understanding the neurodevelopmental aspects of a developmental disorder called CHARGE syndrome in a zebrafish model for the disorder. She earned her PhD in 2022 from INRS, Canada. She joined the Hoffman Lab in May 2022 as a postdoctoral research associate. She is a recipient of the Kavli Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. Her postdoctoral research focuses on exploring PTSD driver genes in zebrafish. She will also be exploring whole brain circuitry in the context of neurodevelopmental disorders. Outside of research, Priyanka is a pastel artist and loves everything music, art, books and food!!
Elizabeth Davidson, PhD
Post-Doctoral Associate
Email: elizabeth.davidson.ed679@yale.edu
Elizabeth received her PhD from the University of Miami for zebrafish studies on the brain-gut-microbe axis and its involvement in comorbidities of autism. Prior to graduate school, she earned a bachelor’s degree at American University, where she first began working with zebrafish as an undergraduate researcher studying diabetic retinopathy. In her new role, she will be pursuing questions relating to the genetic mechanisms of neurodevelopmental disorders.
Shavanie Prashad, PhD
Post-Doctoral Associate
Email: shavanie.prashad@yale.edu
Shavanie earned her B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the City College of New York, then spent a year conducting neuroscience research as an NIH PREP Scholar. She went on to complete her Ph.D. in the Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry program at Yale University. Her thesis focused on how neural circuits transition between behavioral states in C. elegans. Now a postdoc, Shavanie studies how mutations in high-confidence autism risk genes affect brain circuitry and gene expression in live zebrafish. Outside the lab, she enjoys dancing, reading, and watching TV shows.
Sarah was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio and received her B.S. in Neuroscience from Ohio State University in 2016. Throughout undergrad and for 2 years after graduation, she worked with Dr. Craig Erickson at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital studying neurodevelopmental disorders both from the bench and in clinical trials. She also spent time doing research at the UC Davis MIND Institute and OSU Nisonger Center. She left to Midwest to join the Yale MD-PhD program in August 2018. In Fall 2020 following 2 years of medical school, she will affiliate with INP and begin her graduate work in the Hoffman lab where she will study the roles of ASD-risk master regulator genes in early neurodevelopment. In her spare time, she enjoys salsa dancing, theater, hiking, and traveling.
April Pruitt
PhD Student
Email: april.pruitt@yale.edu
April attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where she received her B.S. in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Psychology. She was awarded Outstanding Graduate for the College of Sciences in 2020. As an undergraduate, April worked in Dr. Karen Smith’s lab at UL Lafayette studying postnatal cerebellar glia and motor deficits, and participated in three summer research programs at LSU Health Sciences Center-Shreveport, UC San Diego, and Stanford University, where she investigated a breadth of topics from ASD behavioral phenotypes to post-heart attack inflammation. She joined Yale Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program and the Medical Research Scholars Program in August 2020 and is co-mentored by Dr. Kristen Brennand. April is a Kavli Institute for Neuroscience Scholar and Autism Science Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellow. She is studying the development of GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons as well as the biological basis for sex bias in ASD. In her free time, April enjoys reading novels (especially romance), hiking, and driving across the country.
Netanya Dennis
PhD Student
Email: netanya.dennis@yale.edu
Born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, Netanya attended North Carolina Central University where she double majored in the Department of Chemistry-Biochemistry and Psychology before graduating in 2023. There she did research under Dr. Fei Yan with the Partnership for Research and Education in Material Science (PREM), where she studied 2D Te nanosheets for detecting nonenzymatic electrochemical detection of hydrogen peroxide. She also participated in NC-LSAMP and was a Ronal E. McNair Scholars for students in research from minoritized backgrounds. In her last year, she participated in the Bridge to Neuroscience PhD (BPNP) Endure program at Michigan State University and investigated potential pharmaceuticals in mediating feeding behaviors in normal weight and obese mice while working under Dr. Gina Leinninger. She joined Yale Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program in August 2023 and is co-mentored by Dr. Matthew Girgenti in the Yale Department of Psychiatry. Netanya is currently studying the effect of stress on inflammation and genetic changes that occur following stress and PTSD. Outside of the lab, Netanya enjoys reading, trying new foods, knitting and traveling.
Jillian Petrocelli
PhD Student
Email: jillian.petrocelli@yale.edu
Jillian received her B.S. in Biological Sciences and B.S. in Psychological Sciences from the University of Connecticut in 2021. She then worked for three years as a research assistant in Dr. Michael Greenberg’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School, where she used human and chimpanzee iPSC-derived neurons to study evolutionary changes in activity-dependent transcriptional programs, and investigated how these changes may have contributed to key aspects of human brain development. She joined the Yale Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program in August 2024 and is currently investigating the functional roles of high-risk genes associated with schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder. When she’s not in the lab, Jillian enjoys game nights and hanging out with friends, getting lost in a fantasy novel, and finding new music to obsess over.
Suha Khan
Lab Manager
Email: suha.khan@yale.edu
Suha was born and raised in Pakistan. She received her B.S. in Neuroscience from the University of Miami in 2022. As an undergraduate, Suha worked in Dr. Julia Dallman’s lab where she began working with zebrafish to understand the role of genes in neural development and behavior. She joined the Hoffman lab in May 2023 with the goal of furthering her understanding of the underlying mechanisms by which genes impact behavior. In her free time, Suha loves to travel, creating nail art designs, and solving puzzles.