People

Mike Sidorov is an Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator in the Center for Neuroscience Research at Children’s National Research Institute. Mike received his Ph.D. in neuroscience at MIT, where he studied mechanisms of plasticity in Fragile X syndrome. He did postdoctoral training at UNC-Chapel Hill, where he studied neural circuits and biomarkers in Angelman syndrome.

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Caleigh received her PhD in Psychology at UW Madison. Her dissertation explored the role of neuropeptides on ultrasonic vocalizations and social behavior in California mice. She received her master’s from Western University of Health Sciences where she studied induced-pluripotent stem cells as a therapy for Parkinson’s disease. She received her BS in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior and her BA in Psychology at UC Davis. In her free time, Caleigh loves running outside, playing board games, listening to podcasts, eating good food, and hanging out with her husband, son, dog, and two cats.

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Ayse received her Ph.D. degree in Neurobiology from the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology in Magdeburg (Germany) in 2021. During her Ph.D. thesis, she investigated the participation of PMCA-Neuroplastin complexes in neuronal calcium regulation, signaling and plasticity. She obtained her M.Sc. degree in Molecular Life Sciences from the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena (Germany) in 2016 and her B.Sc. degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics at Istanbul University (Turkey) in 2013. She joined Sidorov lab in 2022 and her work aims to discover which circuitry drives visual encoding and what cortical regions play a role in this. She explores long-range circuits from visual cortex to anterior cingulate cortex anatomically and also functionally. Furthermore, she studies experience-dependent plasticity to understand how visual experience shapes this circuitry and alterations causes disrupted visual processing in Angelman syndrome mouse model.

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Daniel received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from MIT in 2022, where he studied the cortical circuitry underlying visual recognition memory in mice. Before that, he received a B.S. in psychology from Haverford College in 2014. In the Sidorov lab, he is interested in studying the mechanisms and consequences of elevated delta oscillations in a mouse model of Angelman syndrome. When not in the lab he enjoys skiing and hiking in the mountains, reading, and trying new restaurants around DC.

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Jeremy graduated from the University of Maryland in 2024, where he majored in Psychology and minoring in Neuroscience. He is most interested in how neural circuitry gets dysregulated, particularly as it relates to mental illness. He hopes to eventually conduct research in order to better understand the neural basis of certain mental illnesses and explore the impact of environmental factors on neural functioning.

Jami graduated cum laude from the University of Maryland in 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry. She is interested in the neural circuitry associated with learning and sensory perception as well as the variety of impacts on these systems that result from neurodevelopmental diseases. She plans to pursue a career in healthcare while continuing to study these systems. Outside of the lab, Jami enjoys painting, going for long-distance runs, and doing competitive ballroom dance.

Ella is a senior at the University of Maryland pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience, expecting to graduate in 2027. She is interested in the mechanisms and circuitry behind neural systems, especially in relation to neurological disorders. In the future she hopes to conduct research further investigating these neural systems in the context of neurodevelopmental or neurodegenerative disease models. Outside of lab, she enjoys hiking, beach trips, and playing lacrosse.