​Current PI and Undergraduates

​Dr. Deanna Smith, Principle Investigator — [email protected]
Associate Professor
Director, Neuroscience Minor
Dr. Smith has been at UofSC since 2002, studying the cellular roles of the lissencephaly protein, LIS1. She received her PhD from Stanford where she worked with Dr. JHP Skene on mechanisms regulating regenerative axon growth.  Her first HHMI postdoctoral fellowship was with Dr. JR Nevins at Duke, where she studied the proliferative capacity of adult rat sensory neurons. In a second postdoctoral fellowship was with Dr. Li-Huei Tsai at Harvard Medical School she found that LIS1 and NDEL1 regulate dynein, and that NDEL1 itself was regulated by a cyclin-dependent kinase family member, CDK5.
​Samaneh Matoo, PhD
[email protected]
Cell and Molecular Biology

Starting in August 2022
Anne Ventrone, Lab Technician
UofSC Class of '22
B.S. Public Health, Minor in Chemistry
Sean Noonan​, Undergraduate
Class of '25
Capstone Scholar
Major: Psychology
Jack Otterson, Undergraduate Class of '24
Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Minor: Neuroscience

Starting in August 2022

Lab Alumni

Past Postdoctoral Fellows
  • Dr. Liang Shi, PhD (2012-2018)
  • Dr. Subhshri Sahu, PhD (2016)
  • Dr. Jai Pandey, PhD (2012-2013)
  • Dr. Elizabeth Balizan, PhD (2012-2013)
  • Dr. Sachin Hebbar, PhD (2004-2010)
Past PhD Students
  • Timothy Hines, PhD (2012-2018)
  • Feng Gao, PhD (2008-2015)
  • Xu Gao, PhD (2008-2015)
  • Jai Pandey, PhD (2007-2011)
  • Mariano Mesngon, PhD (2003-2008)
Past PhD Rotation Students
  • Alexial Crockett (2020)
  • Alissa Marchione (2019-2020)
  • Courtney Buchanan (2018-2019)
Past Undergraduate Students
  • Remi Brebion (2021-2022)
  • Sreya Pudi (2022)
  • Niyati Shah (2021)
  • Alexandria Fischer (2021)
  • ​Heather Swenson (2021)
  • Savannah Allen (2019-2020)
  • Alex Cutie (2018-2020)
  • Kylee Yturralde (2018-2020)
  • John Slovensky (2018-2020)
  • Stephanie Muscat (2018-2019)
  • Meghann Lange (2016-2019)
  • Aaron Fox (2017-2018)
  • Chloe Jones (2017)
  • Zak Roth (2014-2015)
  • Michael Alexander (2013-2014)
  • Victoria Seigler (2012)
  • Victoria Boynton (2011)
  • Lynn Boyd (2010)
  • Michaela Lewis (2010)
  • Lauren Halter (2009)
  • Flora Simmons (2008-2010)
  • Laura Alliman (2008)
  • Rasheesh Desai (2007)
  • Bhavim Desai (2004-2005)
  • Kieran Dawson (2004)
  • Carrie Bacon (2003-2004)
  • Aimee Guillotte (2003)
  • LaShana Wilder (2003)
Post-baccalaureate Research Assistants
  • Aimee Guillotte (2003-2008)
  • Qin Zhou (2003-2004)
  • Trinity Crapse (2003-2004)
Past High School Students
  • Jonathan Boland (2010-2011)
  • Shivani Agarwal (2007-2008)