People
'None of us is as good as all of us'. Maestro Tabaréz
Carolina Rezaval- Group leader
Carolina was born in Patagonia, Argentina. She received a Masters and Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Buenos Aires. During her Ph.D. in the lab of Dr Fernanda Ceriani, she identified genes underlying neurodegeneration, ultimately affecting circadian behaviour in Drosophila. She did her post-doctoral research at the University of Oxford, where she studied the genetic and neural basis of innate sexual behaviours in Drosophila. As a BBSRC researcher co-investigator with Prof. Stephen Goodwin at Oxford, she studied how the brain differs between the sexes, and how these differences explain distinct behaviours shown by male and female flies. Carolina won a Birmingham Fellowship to start her independent research group in April 2018, and became Associate Professor in Neurobiology in 2022. Carolina is the Module leader of Year 3 Cellular Neurobiology. She is Fellow and Board member of the FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence. Watch a 3 minute video about Carolina's work here.
Laurie Cazale-Debat-Marie Skłodowska-Curie Post-doctoral Fellow
Laurie obtained a Research Master in Neuroscience, Cognition and Behaviour from the University of Toulouse., France Her scientific interests have focused on understanding how sensory and social experiences occurring during early developmental stages impact the expression of social behaviours in arthropods. For her PhD, Laurie joined the lab of Jean-François Ferveur, University of Burgundy, Dijon, where she addressed this question using Drosophila as a model organism. Taking advantage of sophisticated neurogenetic tools available in fruit flies, she studied changes in adult behaviour following exposure to pheromones during larval stages. As a post-doc in the lab of Carolina Rezaval, she is looking to deepen her understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying behavioural decisions. She recently won a prestigious Marie Curie fellowship to continue her work in the lab.
Laurie obtained a Research Master in Neuroscience, Cognition and Behaviour from the University of Toulouse., France Her scientific interests have focused on understanding how sensory and social experiences occurring during early developmental stages impact the expression of social behaviours in arthropods. For her PhD, Laurie joined the lab of Jean-François Ferveur, University of Burgundy, Dijon, where she addressed this question using Drosophila as a model organism. Taking advantage of sophisticated neurogenetic tools available in fruit flies, she studied changes in adult behaviour following exposure to pheromones during larval stages. As a post-doc in the lab of Carolina Rezaval, she is looking to deepen her understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying behavioural decisions. She recently won a prestigious Marie Curie fellowship to continue her work in the lab.
Devika Bodas-Post-doctoral Fellow
Devika obtained her M.Sc. in Biotechnology from University of Pune, India. Her broad research interest is to understand the neural mechanisms underlying context-dependent modulation of animal behaviour. She completed her PhD under the guidance of Prof. Aurnab Ghose at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune. During her PhD, she investigated how internal states modulate the circuit functioning to regulate the plasticity of innate behaviours using adult zebrafish as a model system. As a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Carolina Rezaval’s lab, her research will focus on the neuronal mechanisms underlying behavioural decision making in fruit flies.
Devika obtained her M.Sc. in Biotechnology from University of Pune, India. Her broad research interest is to understand the neural mechanisms underlying context-dependent modulation of animal behaviour. She completed her PhD under the guidance of Prof. Aurnab Ghose at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune. During her PhD, she investigated how internal states modulate the circuit functioning to regulate the plasticity of innate behaviours using adult zebrafish as a model system. As a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Carolina Rezaval’s lab, her research will focus on the neuronal mechanisms underlying behavioural decision making in fruit flies.
Saloni Rose- Darwin PhD student
Saloni is from Kalpakkam, a small town in southern coast in India. She obtained her BS-MS degree from Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research, Mohali. For her master's thesis, she worked on transcription factor CRH-1/CREB-1 and its role in long term memory formation. More broadly, she wants to understand neural circuits underlying complex animal behaviour and decision making. Saloni was awarded a Darwin fellowship to do a PhD in the lab focused on understanding how bacterial infections affect mate choice decisions in fruit flies.
Saloni is from Kalpakkam, a small town in southern coast in India. She obtained her BS-MS degree from Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research, Mohali. For her master's thesis, she worked on transcription factor CRH-1/CREB-1 and its role in long term memory formation. More broadly, she wants to understand neural circuits underlying complex animal behaviour and decision making. Saloni was awarded a Darwin fellowship to do a PhD in the lab focused on understanding how bacterial infections affect mate choice decisions in fruit flies.
Megan Day- MIBTP PhD student
Megan completed her Msci project in the Rezaval lab, looking at how the brain makes decisions when faced with conflicting options. She was accepted into the prestigious BBSRC-MIBTP programme to do PhD in the lab.
Megan completed her Msci project in the Rezaval lab, looking at how the brain makes decisions when faced with conflicting options. She was accepted into the prestigious BBSRC-MIBTP programme to do PhD in the lab.
Milan Narzary- PhD student
Milan obtained his M.Sc. from University of Hyderabad, India, where he completed his thesis under Dr. Sudipta Saraswati. His research involved characterising the role of a protein, mul1, in a Parkinson’s disease model of Drosophila. Following his master’s, he joined Dr. Sheeba Vasu’s lab at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, where he investigated how gap junctions modulate circadian rhythms. He is captivated by the capabilities of neuron’s electrical activity to encode complex physiological and behavioural phenomena. Currently, at the Rezaval lab, as a PhD student he is interested in studying how neural activity influences decision making in fruit flies.
Milan obtained his M.Sc. from University of Hyderabad, India, where he completed his thesis under Dr. Sudipta Saraswati. His research involved characterising the role of a protein, mul1, in a Parkinson’s disease model of Drosophila. Following his master’s, he joined Dr. Sheeba Vasu’s lab at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, where he investigated how gap junctions modulate circadian rhythms. He is captivated by the capabilities of neuron’s electrical activity to encode complex physiological and behavioural phenomena. Currently, at the Rezaval lab, as a PhD student he is interested in studying how neural activity influences decision making in fruit flies.
Youchong Zang- Research Technician
- Youchong was born in Soochow, a big city just next to Shanghai. He obtained both his Bsc and Msc in Biomedical Science at the University of Sheffield. For his master's thesis, he worked with Dr Andrew Lin on the developmental plasticity of dendritic morphology in memory-encoding neurons following ectopic sodium channel expression, using Drosophila Kenyon Cells. Youchong joined the Rezaval Lab as a Research Technician, investigating the neural mechanisms of behavioural choices in Drosophila.
Eve McCallion- Research Technician
- Eve graduated from the University of Birmingham, UK in July 2021 after completing an M.Sci. degree in Human Biology. Her Master’s project involved researching how vancomycin alters the metabolism of macrophages and how this impacts antifungal immunity. She has since gained experience working as a research technician in neuromuscular disease.
Ana de Torres- Senior Research Fellow
- Ana holds a degree in Biology from the University of Seville, and she completed her PhD studies at the University Miguel Hernández de Elche in Alicante. Her research focused on studying the extrinsic mechanisms that regulate asymmetric cell division in stem cells in the larval central brain of Drosophila (fruit fly). Currently, Ana's role is to support the lab related to neural mechanisms underlying behavioural decision-making in fruit flies. She is passionate about expanding her knowledge and abilities in this field and strives to be an important part of a cohesive research team, while working efficiently and effectively.
Patrick Cox-Master’s Student
Patrick is a student at the University of Birmingham studying Biochemistry on the integrated masters pathway. His interest in neurobiology drew him to Dr Rezaval’s lab, where he is currently carrying out a research project, aiming to discover how neural mechanisms in Drosophila influence their decision making.
