Meet the Iordanova Lab members.
The Iordanova lab team is composed of postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate students with educational and training backgrounds in behavioral neuroscience, molecular biology, genetics, biology, and psychology.
Principal Investigator
Mihaela Iordanova, Ph.D
Full biography of Dr. Mihaela Iordanova.
Contact Dr. Iordanova: mihaela.iordanova {@} concordia.ca
Postdoctoral Fellows
Belinda Lay, Ph.D
I was awarded a PhD in behavioural neuroscience in 2017 at the University of New South Wales examining the molecular processes mediating the consolidation of aversive memories under the supervision of Dr. Frederick Westbrook. I was awarded Concordia University’s Horizon Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct my work in Dr. Mihaela Iordanova’s lab . I am currently working on projects that investigate the behavioural and neural mechanisms involved in regulating how reward and fear-based memories are formed and updated in simple and complex environments. In particular, how different neuronal populations and pathways within the amygdala and prefrontal cortex play a functional role in updating behavioural responses when faced with changing contingencies using casual (optogenetics and the Daun02 cell deletion procedure in Fos-LacZ transgenic rats) and correlational (pharmacology, in vivo neuronal recordings) techniques. I am also an Editor and Treasurer of Episteme Heath Inc. In my spare time, I enjoy knitting and eating with friends and relaxing at home watching movies.
Matthew Williams-Spooner, Ph.D
In 2021, I received a PhD in behavioural neuroscience from the University of New South Wales in Sydney Australia. In the Iordanova lab, I am currently investigating the neural basis of learning and memory in cortical and subcortical regions of the mammalian brain. These studies use Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning protocols to assess the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which animals make behavioural choices in response to events in their environment. This approach includes conventional pharmacological interventions as well as techniques that enable us to specifically manipulate defined populations of neurons, such as optogenetics and the Daun02 cell-deletion method in Fos-LacZ transgenic rats. Lately, my list of hobbies is embarrassingly short. Honestly, I love science and I spend way too much time obsessing over it. It’s a real privilege to be a part of the neuroscience community at a time when the field has the tools and knowledge to answer questions about the brain, mind and body that have mystified people for thousands of years.
Omar Qureshi, Ph.D
I obtained a PhD in behavioural neuroscience in 2021 from the University of New South Wales, under the supervision of Professor Frederick Westbrook and Dr. Nathan Holmes. My thesis examined how danger affects the processing of innocuous stimuli. I was awarded Concordia University’s Horizon Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct my work in the Iordanova lab where I use pharmacological and chemo-genetic techniques to investigate the neural substrates of higher order conditioning, with a particular focus on the roles of the perirhinal cortex and orbital frontal cortex in sensory preconditioning. In my spare time, I enjoy gaming on my switch, learning Arabic and spending time with my wife.
Graduate Students
Anna-Lena Schlenner
Born and raised in Germany, I completed my B.Sc. in Biology at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. Deciding I wanted to see more of the world, I spent the next 4 years at UC San Diego learning single unit in-vivo electrophysiology under Jill Leutgeb and Stefan Leutgeb. In Dr. Iordanova’s laboratory, I am now utilizing this knowledge and gaining new as a graduate student, investigating the neural correlates of associative learning. To balance out the science in my life, I enjoy being outside no matter the weather, or getting cozy with a cup of tea, my latest knitting project or a good book.
Virginia Opara
I received my Honours B.A. in Psychology from Concordia University in 2016. I joined the Iordanova Lab as a graduate student in 2017 after completing my honours research in the lab. For my thesis, I studied a combination of behavioural paradigms aimed at reducing the associative strength of a target stimuli, namely overexpectation and extinction in appetitive classical conditioning. My current research is focused on understanding the role of dopamine in aversive learning. To do this I use optogenetics in conjunction with behavioural designs such as blocking and temporal primacy. Outside the lab, I enjoy reading, cycling and baking.
Dilara Gostolupce
I have received my BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics and BA in Philosophy (minor in Psychology) from Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey. As a PhD student in the lab, I am focusing on uncovering the behavioral and neural bases of higher-order fear learning. I do this using a combination of pharmacogenetic methods including Daun02 inactivation in fos-LacZ transgenic animals, and circuit-based analysis using DREADDs. When I am not in the lab, I mostly drink wine and play with my data. I love knitting and sewing, reading fiction (favorite authors Oğuz Atay, Dostoyevsky and Nabokov) and I am very interested in auteur cinema.
Alexandra Usypchuk
My name is Alex and I’m currently pursuing my Master’s degree after completing a Bsc in Behavioral Neuroscience at Concordia. I study reward prediction error in VTA dopamine neurons using optogenetics. The traditional belief that VTA dopamine only encodes changes in value has come under scrutiny in the learning field. Our research will contribute to the debate. In my spare time, you can find me at Tim Hortons fueling my high levels of energy while watching bird videos (I have a particularly soft spot for chickens).
Etienne Maes
I am an MDCM & PhD student at McGill University under the supervision of Drs Mark Brandon and Mihaela Iordanova. I study the role of midbrain dopamine signalling in prediction error, and how the brain uses this teaching signal to update higher-order associations and spatial representations in hippocampus, using a combination of behaviour, chemogenetics, optogenetics, and Miniscope calcium imaging. I am interested in studying how the brain drives behaviour in order to better model what specific neural computations are altered in disordered cognition. I am also the Head of Publications at Sex[M]ed, an educational platform for healthcare practitioners. When not pursuing my ultimate passion (sleeping), you can find me taking care of my plants, or agonizing over where to place a comma in an unexceptional piece of poetry.
Undergraduate Students
Megan Lozzi
I’m in my second year of my BA in Honours Psychology at Concordia University. In the lab, I have been involved in projects looking at reinstatement following overexpectation training as well as the role of dopamine transients in reward prediction error. Outside of the lab, I like spending time with my cat, snake, and rat, watching scary movies, and skateboarding.
Ramisha Choudhury
I am a Behavioral Neuroscience Specialization undergraduate studying at Concordia University. While volunteering at the Iordanova Lab, I have developed an interest in studying how animals learn about upcoming aversive and appetitive events. Outside of the lab, I enjoy reading, rock climbing and spending time with my cat.
Elsa Awad
I am currently pursuing my third year in a B.Sc. Honours in Behavioral Neuroscience. I volunteer at the Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology so as to gain more hands-on experience. I also take part in Concordia’s student life via clubs and associations; I am Co-President at MedSpecs Concordia, as well as the Vice-President of Internal Affairs at the Syrian Student Association.
Alumni
Czarina Evangelista
Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology: Behavioral Neuroscience Colby College, Department of Psychology, Waterville, ME
Hajar El Mouddene
Python Developer, TEKsystems ~ Active member in the NeuroTechX community