My group studies the neural circuits underlying cognitive function and dysfunction as they relate to anxiety, depression, schizophrenia and autism. We use sophisticated technologies to manipulate specific neural circuits in the rodent brain to determine their role in behavior. We are interested in changes in synaptic strength that may underlie mental disorders.
Kai received his Ph.D. from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China, and joined the Li Lab in March 2013. He is studying the role of the central amygdala circuits in fear regulation.
Tao received his Ph.D. from HuaZhong University of Science and Technology, China. He joined Li Lab in January 2016. In the lab, he studies the role of central amygdala circuits in reward seeking and punishment avoidance behaviors. He also works on building new microscopies and using new optical technology to improve the understanding of neuronal circuits in behaviors.
Alexander received his PhD in computational neuroscience from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. He is interested in the roles of the amygdala and insula in emotional processing. Outside the lab, he likes practicing sports, music and chess. Alex joined the lab in January 2022.
Wuqiang received his PhD from Fudan University, China. He joined Li Lab in February 2018. He studies how amygdala circuits are regulated during learning.
Qingtao received his Ph.D. from HuaZhong University of Science and Technology, China. He joined Li Lab in February 2021. He investigates how the peripheral inflammation signals affect neural circuits plasticity in the CNS.
Mingzhe received his Ph.D. from the Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Science, China. He joined Li Lab in October 2022. His work focuses on the role of the body-brain axis in interoceptive processing. Outside the lab, Mingzhe is interested in fitness and basketball.
Wenqiang received his Ph.D. jointly trained by Shanghai Tech University and Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, CAS, China. He joined the Li Lab in January 2023. He studies the pathological progression in neurodegenerative diseases.
Charlotte graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA in Philosophy. She received her MA in Medical Sciences at Boston University. Following her studies, she worked at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Joel Elmquist’s lab, where she studied the neural systems involved in feeding behavior, glucose homeostasis, and energy expenditure resulting in diabetes and obesity. She moved with the Elmquist lab to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in the Center for Hypothalamic Research and collaborated with Philipp Scherer’s lab in the Touchstone Diabetes Center assisting in the histology of brain, adipose, and peripheral tissues. She joined the Li Lab at CSHL in November 2022. Outside of the lab, Charlotte enjoys cooking, eating food of various cuisines, running, golfing, and playing piano.
Sara graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in neuroscience. She joined the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Ph.D. program in 2017 and started her thesis work in the Li Lab in 2018. Her work focuses on the interaction of the central amygdala and the dopamine system during reward seeking and active avoidance behavior.
Daniëlle joined the lab in October 2019 as a Research Master student from the University of Amsterdam for one year. Her project focuses on neural circuit mechanisms of motivated behaviors. She returned to the lab in Nov. 2021 as a Student in Residence to continue her PhD research.
Leonardo Jared Ramirez Sanchez, Graduate Student
Leonardo earned his bachelor’s degree in Genomic Sciences with honors at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in 2018. There, he developed algorithms to elucidate the topological properties of gene regulatory networks and worked in synthetic biology. As an undergraduate Leonardo was an intern in Miguel Nicolelis Lab at Duke University, where he studied the difference in the brain activity from normal animals and animal models of neuropsychiatric diseases. In addition, he was a visiting student in Adam Kepecs lab at CSHL, where he studied the neural representation of social reward. Leonardo is currently pursuing his PhD at Bo Li’s lab; he is focused on research the role of striatal circuitry in positive and negative reinforcement and its implication in maladaptive disorders such as addiction. Leonardo loves reading manga, practicing all types of sports, and salsa dancing.
Hao Zhang, Student in Residence
Hao completed his bachelor’s degree in Bioscience from a joint program between Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Institute of Biophysics, CAS. After that, he obtained his MS degree at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He joined the PhD Program in Neuroscience at the SUNY Stony Brook in 2021 fall and then joined Li lab at CSHL to conduct his doctoral thesis research in May 2022. His work focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying opioid addiction.
Lisa Kimoto, Scientific Administrator
Lisa earned her bachelor’s degree in Sociology at Stony Brook University. She has been working with the Li lab since Feb. 2019. Lisa supports our laboratory in all matters that relate to administration, technology, funding applications, recruitment, team building, and organization.Lisa loves playing mah jongg, gardening, traveling and crafting.