Cordeira Lab Members
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Derek Gustafson
Andrew Minchala
I’m recruiting students to join my lab!
Cordeira Lab Alumni
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Cecilia Schoeni ’23
Cecilia conducted 2 student independent study projects in the Cordeira from 2021-22; both focused on the interactions between food quality and mouse behavior. Her efforts are acknowledged in the 2023 publication in PLOS ONE.
Emily Hoegler ’21
Emily joined the Cordeira lab in 2020. She was very interested in conducting research in the field of exercise biology/physiology. Emily conducted an independent study project (BIO299) to study mouse exercise behavior. She also developed and conducted an advanced senior research project (BIO490). Emily was named a 2020 SURF fellow to continue her study of brain dopamine activity after exercise. She presented her work at the 2020 NEURON conference and 2021 WRD conference, where she won a Provost award for best student research. She was also the recipient of a Sigma Xi research award. Her work was also presented at the 2021 SfN conference and is currently in preparation for publication. Emily is now at Regent University Law School.
David Lawrence ’23
David conducted a unique student independent study project in collaboration with Drs. Cordeira and Reynolds during the spring of 2023. He investigating the impact of oral antibiotics on the gut microbiome in mice. He was selected as a Provost award winner at the 2023 Western Day of Research (WRD) conference.
Molly McMahon ’21
An aspiring veterinarian, Molly joined the lab in spring 2020 to expand her technical skill set and help investigate exercise and food intake behavior in mice.
Katherine DuFrirsz ’20
Katie conducted her senior research project entitled “The effect of exercise on high-fat food intake behavior in mice” in the Cordeira Lab. She is currently attending St. George’s University School of Medicine!
Haley Schumacher
Haley worked with Katie the Spring ’19 semester. Together, during their SIS projects, they explored factors influencing high-fat food palatability.
Molly Gallagher ’19
Molly joined the lab in 2018 motivated to investigate the mechanisms through which exercise modifies high-fat food intake. Her exceptional work during both SIS and Advanced Senior Research helped her to win a Provost Award at Western Research Day in 2019. Molly aspires to become a Physician’s Assistant.
Darcy Curillo ’19
Darcy conducted an SIS project with the Cordeira lab in Spring 2017, working closely with Jenny Kry to investigate the behavioral impact of social isolation in female mice. Darcy aspires to become a Doctor.
Daniel Monahan ’18
Danny was a valuable member of the Cordeira Lab from 2016-2019. He volunteered countless hours of time and conducted multiple SIS projects and an outstanding Advanced Senior Research project, the results of which are featured in “Voluntary wheel running reduces weight gain in mice by decreasing high-fat food consumption,” a manuscript which he co-authored in Physiology & Behavior in 2019. Danny also presented his work at Western Research Day and N.E.U.R.O.N. in both 2017 and 2018. Danny begins PA school at SUNY Pleasantville in 2019.
Jenny Kry ’17
As part of the Cordeira lab from 2016-2018, Jenny conducted SIS projects and an Advanced Senior Research project investigating cognitive and feeding behaviors in female mice. Jenny presented her work locally at Western Research Day (2016-2017), regionally at N.E.U.R.O.N. (2017) and nationally at Society for Neuroscience (2016). Noteworthy are her contributions to “Learning and memory are impaired in the object recognition task during metestrus/diestrus and after sleep deprivation“ published in Behavioural Brain Research (2018). She also published “Binge-Eating Behavior in Socially Isolated Female Mice“, her advanced senior research project, in the Journal of Young Investigators (2018). Jenny begins an accelerated BSN program at Quinnipiac in 2019.
Heather Rosenblatt ’17
Heather was a member of the Cordeira Lab from 2015-2017, during which time she used the novel object recognition task as a behavioral measure of cognition. The results of her extraordinary work during SIS and Advanced Senior Research lead to numerous presentations at Western Research Day (2016-2017), N.E.U.R.O.N. (2017) and Society for Neuroscience (2016). She also co-authored “Learning and memory are impaired in the object recognition task during metestrus/diestrus and after sleep deprivation“ published in Behavioural Brain Research (2018). Heather begins at Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2019.
Sai Saroja Kolluru
With her BS from Stonybook, Saroja joined the Cordeira lab as a research technician during the summer of 2016. While she continued to study part-time at WCSU, Saroja volunteered throughout the fall of 2016 and joined lab partners Jenny Kry and Heather Rosenblatt to present their work at SfN 2016. Saroja’s technical prowess was instrumental in the success of “Learning and memory are impaired in the object recognition task during metestrus/diestrus and after sleep deprivation” Her enthusiasm for neuroscience motivated the entire research team. After completing her MS in Biological sciences at CCSU, Saroja joined the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub life science research institute in San Francisco, CA.
Michael Scanlon
A Georgetown student but New Fairfield native, Michael volunteered his research skills and enthusiasm with the Cordeira lab during the summer of 2016. He worked closely with Daniel Monahan to study the impact of exercise on food choice. After graduation, Michael joined the Neurodevelopmental Behavior Core at Boston Children’s Hospital as a research assistant.
Kaitlyn McNally ’16
Kaitlyn was a member of the Cordeira lab from 2015-2016. During her tenure as a lab technician and through her work during independent study, she used the novel object recognition task to assess learning and memory in mice. For her outstanding research presentation at Western Research Day in 2016, she earned a Provost Award. Kaitlyn is currently a Chemistry teacher at Danbury H.S.