Principal Investigator

Kartik Pattabiraman MD, PhD

Kartik Pattabiraman is an assistant professor and child psychiatrist at the Yale Child Study Center. He received his  M.D. and Ph.D. from University of California, San Francisco. He completed his Ph.D. thesis work in the laboratory of John Rubenstein M.D., Ph.D. Afterward, he completed his clinical training in adult and child psychiatry and his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Nenad Sestan M.D., Ph.D. He enjoys spending time with his family, collecting sneakers and watching the Jacksonville Jaguars

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dan Doyle Ph.D.

Dan Doyle is a postdoctoral fellow co-mentored by Kartik Pattabiraman M.D., Ph.D., and Nenad Sestan M.D., Ph.D., at the Yale Child Study Center and Department of Neuroscience. He received his Ph.D. from University of Michigan. He completed his Ph.D. thesis work in the laboratory of Ken Kwan, Ph.D. Dan joined the Pattabiraman and Sestan laboratories in July 2024, and is interested in genetic and molecular mechanisms controlling evolutionarily divergent neural circuit development. He enjoys watching soccer, inhaling new cuisines, and spending time with his dog, Maizie.

NRTP Psychiatry Resident

Rachel Bandler MD, PhD

Rachel is a psychiatry resident physician in the Neuroscience Research Training Program at Yale. She earned her undergraduate degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she majored in Chemistry and minored in Biology and Political Science. At MIT, she worked in Ed Boyden’s lab and used optogenetics approaches to silence epileptic seizures. Rachel then joined the MD/PhD program at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, completing her thesis in Gord Fishell’s lab using single-cell genomics and lineage tracing approaches to study cortical interneuron development. In the Pattabiraman and Sestan labs at Yale, she hopes to apply basic neuroscience tools to better understand neuropsychiatric illnesses.

Graduate Student (MSTP)

Matthew Yuen

Matthew was born and raised in New York. He graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA in neuroscience. He is now a MD-PhD candidate in Yale’s Indepartmental Neuroscience Program being co-mentored by Kartik Pattabiraman and Nenad Sestan. He enjoys spending his free time giving haircuts, producing music, and reading.

Graduate Student (INP)

Nikkita Salla

Nikki is a PhD student at Yale in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, comentored by Kartik Pattabiraman and Nenad Sestan. Nikki obtained a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Neuroscience at Temple University and spent a couple years as a Research Assistant at the Broad Institute after graduating.She enjoys spending time with family and friends, going to trivia around New Haven, reading, and staying active!

Graduate Student (INP)

Arianna Rodriguez Rivera

Arianna is a PhD student at Yale in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program. She obtained a B.S. in Microbiology and a minor in Chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico in Humacao. She enjoys traveling with her family and friends, and learning about new cultures and perceptions of life.

Graduate Student (INP)

Lex Herrerias 

Lex was born and raised in Mexico City. She graduated from George Mason University in VA with a B.S in Biology and minor in Neuroscience. After graduation she spent two years at the NIH doing a post bacc where she research treatments for alcoholism through peripheral mechanisms. She enjoys reading, spending time with friends, painting, and exploring new places.

MD-MHS thesis student

Helen Cai

Helen Cai is an MD candidate at the Yale School of Medicine and an alum of Yale College, where she studied Applied Mathematics and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. While her previous research background has primarily been in engineering and physics-related fields, she is now refining her computational skills with application in studying the mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric disorders. In her spare time she enjoys knitting, staying active, and collecting insects.