Lab Members
Dr. Tiffany Wills
Throughout my career I have been deeply invested in understanding the neurological underpinnings of alcohol dependence. I have used each stage of my training (from undergraduate to postdoc) to build complementary sets of technical skills and areas of study within the alcohol field. Some of the major themes of this work have focused on the developmental impacts of alcohol use. As an undergraduate at IUPUI, I began by evaluating the consequences of fetal alcohol exposure on addictive behaviors in adults. During my graduate training in the laboratory of Dr. Breese at UNC, I used behavioral pharmacology to determine the circuitry and mechanisms involved in the negative affect associated during alcohol withdrawal. It was also during this time that I began to evaluate the consequences of adolescent alcohol exposure on these withdrawal related behaviors. As a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Winder at Vanderbilt University, I continued this investigation into the neurocircuitry, and molecular contributors of withdrawal induced negative affect. I found that alcohol regulation of NMDA receptor signaling was a critical for these effects. I was awarded K99/R00 Career Development Award to explore the role of GluN2B-NMDA receptor signaling mechanisms and how they were impacted by adolescent alcohol exposure. This work produced several findings that have become the focus of my lab. 1) Adolescent alcohol exposure produces sex dependent changes in BNST plasticity and negative affect behaviors. 2) These changes last into adulthood but require a second insult (like stress) to be uncovered.
Eleanor holmgren - graduate student
Eleanor earned her BS in Behavioral Neuroscience in 2014 from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. While at Centre she performed research investigating classical conditioning and neurobiological substrates of the avian pair-bond. Her interest in the crossover between psychology and biology fostered her love of neuroscience and inspired her to pursue a PhD in neurobiology. She joined the Wills Lab in the spring of 2018 and is completing her dissertation on the effects of adolescent alcohol exposure on neuroplasticity in the BNST and other factors which influence the development of alcohol use disorder. She loves discussing neuroscience and psychology, and is energized by teaching neuroscience to non-science majors. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and two cats, baking, and watching Disney movies.
Dr. Lucas Albrechet-Souza
Sheila Antonagi Engi
Sydney Rein
Sydney joined the Wills Lab in January 2021 as an undergraduate researcher. She is pursuing a B.S. in Neuroscience at Tulane University, and after graduating in May 2023, Sydney will be attending Tulane University School of Medicine. Sydney’s work in the lab investigates the activation of various cell populations in the BNST following adolescent alcohol exposure using RNAscope methods. At Tulane, Sydney is the Executive Director of Swim4Success, a student-run organization that provides free swim lessons for kids in New Orleans. In her free time, she enjoys walking around different New Orleans neighborhoods, road cycling, volunteering with the Miracle League of Greater New Orleans, and baking challah.
Savannah Boyd
Savannah joined the Wills lab as an undergraduate researcher in Fall 2022. Savannah is pursing a B.S. in neuroscience at Tulane University and is very excited to be getting hands-on experience in the field. Through her work in the lab, she hopes to hone skills such as handling and treating rodents, molecular biology techniques, and behavioral analysis. In the future, Savannah hopes to pursue a career as a perfusionist.
Past Members
Zari McCullers - Prep Student
Zari joined the Wills lab as a 2020-2021 LSUHSC PREP Scholar, which prepared her as a post-baccalaureate researcher for the rigors of a PhD in a biomedical science discipline. In the Wills Lab, Zari investigated sex differences in negative affect and BNST-activation following adolescent alcohol exposure. Zari is currently pursuing her PhD in Biomedical Science at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, PA.
chelsea kasten - postdoctoral fellow
Chelsea joined the Wills Lab as a postdoctoral fellow to pursue how adolescent alcohol exposure affects neural signaling and correlated behaviors, whether these effects are sex-dependent, and potential pharmacology interventions. Chelsea was a part of the Wills Lab from 2017 to 2020 and currently works as a Medical Writer and Editor.
katie carzoli - postdoctoral fellow
Katie joined the Wills lab to further strengthen her knowledge in electrophysiological techniques. Katie’s work in the lab investigated the short- and long-term neural consequences of adolescent alcohol exposure in the BNST. Katie now works as the Research Proposal Development Officer Tulane University.
Heather Cancienne - Research Associate
Heather’s first research experience was in the Department of Biochemistry at LSUHSC where she investigated the regulatory role of Protein S in blood coagulation. She desired a stronger foundation in neuroscience, so she joined the Middleton and Wills labs in May 2018 in hopes of boasting her research background for a future as an MD/PhD student. Heather is now a medical student at The Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine.
