Justine Kupferman

I was born and raised on the north side of Chicago, home of the Cubs and lots of people who consider hot dogs as a food group. I fled from the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest to study biology for my undergraduate degree at Reed College, where I graduate with a BA in 2002. For my senior thesis, I looked at SNARE-mediated release of neuropeptides from Aplysia. I generated absolutely no data, but my interest in neuroscience grew, so upon graduation I went to work for Drs. Sacha Nelson and Gina Turrigiano in their synaptic physiology lab at Brandeis University outside of Boston.

After living in France for a year, I returned to the US and had the good fortune to work at Columbia for Dr. Elizabeth Miller, who’s research focuses on intracellular protein trafficking and mechanisms by which cells regulate secretion from the ER in the context of protein folding. As a graduate student, I have continued to pursue protein trafficking issues, but my focus has shifted to the brain. My research looks at how a particular ion channel, HCN1, is trafficked to a very specific location in the neurons of the hippocampus (a structure of the brain crucial for memory formation). To try to understand this process, I look at the brains of juvenile rats and mice both in vivo and in culture to try to figure out which proteins are required to get HCN1 to the right place at the right time.

In addition to discussing cellular neurobiology, I also enjoy talking about dinosaurs, dance, Antarctica, my cat, Bob Dylan, France, American literature, and outer space

Marco Russo

After growing up in Pittsburgh, the greatest of the rust belt cities, I spent my undergraduate years at Northwestern University, on the picturesque lakefront in Evanston, IL. At Northwestern, I studied Integrated Science and Chemistry, and was at some point destined for a career in organic or physical chemistry. My first research experience as an undergraduate was in a neuroanatomy lab because, alas, I could not find a place in a chemistry lab. There, I spent many hours doing histology, and the experience initiated a spark of wonder at the intricate complexity of the brain.

It was not until after college that I decided to explore my growing interest in neuroscience. I became a technician in a neuroscience lab at Northwestern’s medical school, and had the opportunity to learn electrophysiology techniques and apply them to some basic biophysics problems in the cerebellum. It was the perfect bridge from my chemistry background, and after a short time there, I was hooked on neurophysiology – there is nothing quite like recording your first action potential. With a new enthusiasm for neuroscience, I came to Columbia as an MD/PhD student to study in its great neurobiology department. Currently, I am trying to understand the basic principles by which the cortex processes and organizes sensory information. I study the olfactory cortex in mice, and still rely heavily on electrophysiology techniques, as well as new tools of optogenetics

I am living in Wash Heights with my wife, and on the rare occasions when I have free time, I enjoy soccer, literature of any sort, computer science, and Italian.