People

Aarti Jajoo, PhD | Instructor

Dr. Jajoo is an Assistant Neuroscientist at NG-TBL since October 2021. She is also an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a Staff Scientist at the National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, and an affiliate member of the Broad Institute. Dr. Jajoo’s research is focused on developing mathematical and statistical tools to facilitate bioinformatics advancements. In the lab, she is involved in developing pipelines and machine learning models concerning multi-omic data, with the ultimate goal of better understanding psychiatric disorders on the omics level.

Dr. Jajoo received her Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Houston, postdoctoral training from Baylor College of Medicine, and worked as a research scientist at Brandeis University before joining NG-TBL.

Publications:  Google Scholar
Contact: ajajoo@mclean.harvard.edu

Social media: @jajooaarti

Fun Facts: Birder and loves kayaking.

Serdar Aslan, PhD | Instructor

Dr. Aslan is an Assistant Neuroscientist at NG-TBL since February 2022 and is co-mentored by Blaise Frederick. He is also an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an affiliate member of the Broad Institute.

Dr. Aslan works at the intersection of neuroscience, machine learning, deep learning, signals and systems, various mathematical areas, control theory, computational optimal transport graph theory, random matrix theory, and detection and estimation theory. He specializes in various computational techniques. He applies those techniques in brain hemodynamics and fMRI studies. 

As a member of the NG-TBL, he is working on an imaging genomics project. He analyzes big data from UK Biobank and other projects. He derives useful resting state fMRI-derived features and performs neurogenetic modeling.

Publications:  Google Scholar
Contact: saslan@mclean.harvard.edu

Social media:

Fun Facts: Likes walking

Artemis Iatrou, PhD | Instructor

Dr. Iatrou is an Assistant Neuroscientist at NG-TBL since September 2022. She is also an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an affiliate member of the Broad Institute. Dr. Iatrou’s research focuses on elucidating the multilayer omic structure of psychiatric diseases. She is currently developing computational and statistical methods to explore how stress is implicated in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders and contributes to disease heterogeneity.

Dr. Iatrou received her Ph.D. in Epigenetics and Neuroscience from Maastricht University, the Netherlands, and postdoctoral training from Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Chicago, IL.

See publications from Dr. Iatrou: Google Scholar
Contact: aiatrou@mclean.harvard.edu

Social media: @artemiat.bsky.social

Fun Facts: Artemis enjoys surfing and snowboarding.

Marina Soliva Estruch, MSc | PhD Student

Marina was a MSc student (November 2021 – August 2022) and is currently a Ph.D. student at NG-TBL since September 2022. and an affiliate member of the Broad Institute. Her project studies the impact of trauma timing at the molecular level. She is conducting postmortmem brain molecular studies and utilizes multiple cell models of stress (iPSC-dericed neurons, primary neurons). Here thesis is focusing on effects mediated by the corticosteroid receptors.

Marina received a BSc in Psychology from the University of Valencia, Spain, and her MSc in Fundamental Neuroscience at Maastricht University, The Netherlands

Publications: PubMed

Contact:msolivaestruch@mclean.harvard.edu

Fun fact: Marina likes extravagant earrings and diving into memes!

Ioulia Tsatsani, MSc | PhD Student

PhD Student

Ioulia is a Ph.D. student at NG-TBL since March 2023 and an affiliate member of the Broad Institute. Her research interests lie in investigating the intricate interplay between stress, mitochondria, and nuclear transcription using computational tools. By exploring these connections, Ioulia aims to gain deeper insights into stress-related mental disorders .

Ioulia received a BSc in Biology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece with BSc in Biology, and her MSc in Bioinformatics from the University of Glasgow (UK). Before joining the lab, she worked as in the UK National Health Service.

Publications: PubMed

Contact:itsatsani@mclean.harvard.edu

Fun fact: Ioulia equally enjoys making loops in programming and crocheting!

Amaury Pelzer, MSc | Visiting Graduate Student

Amaury was a MSc student in Fundamental Neuroscience at Maastricht University, The Netherlands

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam): Minor, Biomolecular Science and Neuroscience – Track Neurosciences

Maastricht University: BSc in Biomedical Sciences Focus on: Neuroscience