Melanie Samuel, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Dr. Melanie Samuel aims to decode the structural and molecular regulators of synaptic rewiring. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and CPRIT Scholar in the Huffington Center on Aging at Baylor College of Medicine. As a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar she earned three bachelor’s degrees from the University of Idaho (summa cum laude) and then completed her Ph.D. at Washington University studying neurotropic viral pathogenesis with Michael Diamond. As a postdoctoral fellow with Joshua Sanes at Harvard University she developed the retina as a model for synaptic aging. Her past awards include those from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, the Brain Research Foundation and a Pathway to Independence Award from the NIH, and the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. Dr. Samuel’s interdisciplinary research group leverages nanoscopic imaging technologies and high throughput in vivo molecular studies of single cells and their circuits in order to identify ways to repair neural networks.
Robert Mackin, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Associate
Robert Mackin is a postdoctoral associate in the Samuel Lab. He joined the Samuel Lab in early 2020 where he will be focused on researching non-canonical opsin signaling and molecular mechanisms involved in retina development and visual disorders.Robert has a Bachelor’s degree in Cell Biology and Neuroscience from Montana State University, Bozeman MT, and a Ph.D. in Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry - from The University of Idaho, Moscow ID. Robert has a publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences (PNAS) demonstrating how nuclear signaling factors regulate differential expression of tandemly replicated visual opsin genes.
Outside of the lab Robert enjoys wood working, clock making, Bronze Age history, hiking, kayaking and other outdoor activities.
Kang-Chieh Huang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Associate
KC (Kang-Chieh) Huang is a postdoctoral associate in the Samuel Lab. He joined the Samuel Lab in early 2023 where he will be focused on researching neuron regeneration and synapse connectivity in visual system using human induced pluripotent stem cells and organoid model. KC has a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology from Kaohsiung Medical University and a Master’s degree in Anatomy and Cell Biology from National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan. He then completed his Ph.D. in Biology from Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis in the lab of Dr. Jason Meyer in 2022 and investigating cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying retinal ganglion cell neurodegeneration in a human pluripotent stem cell derived model.
Mohamed Tawfik, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Associate
Mohamed Tawfik started his journey by receiving a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and Biotechnology from the German university in Cairo and researching at the bio-organic chemistry lab at Saarland university. Afterwards, He received his German Diplom in Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology from Saarland university. Before receiving his PhD in Neuroscience from Otto-von-Guericke university in 2021, he worked as a pharmacist, oncology production pharmacist and quality assurance pharmacist. Dr. Tawfik has specialized in brain drug/gene delivery for neuroprotection using nanomedicine and he joined the Samuel lab at Oct 2022 as a postdoctoral associate to investigate the neuro-vascular interactions in the visual system during development
Jeffrey Zhu
Graduate Student
Jeffrey Zhu is a graduate student in Neuroscience Graduate Program at Baylor College of Medicine. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Neural Science & Psychology from New York University. During his undergraduate training, he conducted research investigating the contribution of aberrant protein synthesis in driving repetitive and perseverative behaviors in Fragile X Syndrome with Dr. Eric Klann. His postbaccalaureate research with Dr. Joseph Castellano at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai helped determine the role of age-related systemic factors in regulating hippocampal synaptic plasticity. As an NSF-funded Graduate Research Fellow in the lab, Jeffrey is currently working on identifying cell-type specific molecular drivers of synaptic integrity within novel retinal ganglion cell populations
Claire Young
Graduate Student
Claire Young is a graduate student in the Neuroscience program at Baylor College of Medicine. She earned her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and French Studies from Rice University. After graduation, she worked as a research assistant at UTHealth Houston where she studied mouse feeding circuits and the effects of diet on health outcomes. In the Samuel lab, Claire studies the interplay between diet, microglia signaling, and feeding regulation.Outside of lab, Claire enjoys cooking, running, and playing with her two cats.
Victoria Cuevas
Graduate Student
Pooja Sharma
Graduate Student
Pooja is a Research Technician II in the Samuel lab. She joined the Samuel lab in mid 2023 where she is determining the mechanism to control the microglia phagocytic state via SIRPa-CD47 in the brain. Pooja has graduated with Biochemistry degree in 2019 from Saurashtra University, Rajkot, Gujarat, India. She completed post graduation in Biotechnology in 2021 from Christ University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. She has published bio informatic papers from her master's dissertation work. Later, She worked as a Project Associate in Muralidharan lab at the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (DBT-InStem), Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
Viktor Akhanov
Laboratory Technician
Viktor Akhanov manages the mouse colony and assists team members with ongoing experiments. He joined the Samuel Lab in May 2020 and he is working on keeping the mouse colony and the lab organized and assisting the team when needed. Viktor earned his B.S. in Biotechnology from University of Houston-Downtown and worked as a lab manager at Baylor for 4 years prior to joining Samuel Lab.
Outside of the laboratory Viktor enjoys jigsaw puzzles, video games, and jogging.
Qudrat Abdulwahab
Research Technician
Qudrat Abdulwahab is a Research Technician at the Samuel Lab in the Huffington Center on Aging at Baylor College of Medicine. Prior to starting at Baylor, Qudrat earned her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences and a minor in Psychology at Sam Houston State University. During her undergraduate degree training, she conducted research investigating the role of RNA binding protein 9 (RBP9) in the development of the blood-eye/retinal barrier using both RNAi systems and mutant models under the supervision of Dr. Mardelle Atkins. She is currently working on understanding the role of SIRPA/CD47 in modulating microglia states in disease models
Anthony Ho
Research Technician
Anthony helps with mouse colony and trains/assists lab members with surgical procedures. He joined the Samuel Lab in October 2021 and is in charge of retinal injections, stereotaxic surgeries and helping out the lab when needed. Anthony earned ins B.S. in Neuroscience from University of Texas at Dallas and previously worked as a research assistant in the Ploski lab and at University of Texas Southwestern for 4 years total. He then took a detour into the culinary arts where he worked as a line cook and as a BBQ pitmaster for 5 years before returning to science in the Samuel lab. Outside of the lab Anthony enjoys cooking, spending time with his wife and son, and bouldering
Molly Rhodes
Mouse Colony Technician
Aaliyah Robinson
Research Technician