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Located at the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
-Not an official NIH website-
Meet the Team
JULIETA LISCHINSKY, PhD | Principal Investigator
Julieta is a Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator and an NIH Distinguished Scholar. She leads the Neurobehavioral Circuits Group in the Neurobiology Laboratory Branch at NIEHS. She pursued a doctoral degree from the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at The George Washington University in Dr. Joshua Corbin's lab studying the developmental mechanisms for innate behaviors. She then joined Dr. Dayu Lin's lab as a postdoctoral fellow where she received the Leon Levy Fellowship in Neuroscience and K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award to pursue her research interests on the in vivo function and circuit for social behaviors.
Outside the lab, she enjoys playing sports, including field hockey and ping pong, as well as going to musicals, comedy shows and concerts.
JINGHENG ZHOU, PhD | Biologist
Jingheng Zhou received his Ph.D. from Peking University Health Science Center China, in 2015. During his postdoctoral training under Dr. Guohong Cui at NIEHS, he learned fiber photometry to study dopamine function in striatum and Parkinson’s disease. He joined the Lischinsky Lab in January 2024 and is interested in the role of neuromodulators and hormones in social behaviors.
Outside the lab, Jingheng is a jogger and big fan of sci-fi.
OLU LAWAL, PhD | Postdoctoral Fellow
Olu received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Psychology at Stony Brook University in 2012. He later obtained a second Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology at Medgar Ever College in Brooklyn, NY. In 2016, Olu moved to Durham, NC to start a PhD program in the Department of Neurobiology at Duke University. He joined the lab of Dr. Cagla Eroglu where he studied the role of astrocyte-secreted proteins and synapses in the control of goal-directed behaviors. After the completion of his PhD, Olu joined the lab of Dr. Julieta Lischinsky at NIEHS. He is currently pursuing his interest in understanding: i) how the neural circuitry that control innate social behaviors develop, and ii) how early life adversity impacts this development.
In his spare time, Olu enjoys listening to music and playing musical instruments.
RILEY HARPER | Undergraduate Research Intern
Riley is passionate about neuroscience and artificial intelligence, with a focus on applying statistical methods to research in connectomics, neurodenegerative disease, and behavior. Outside of his academic pursuits, Riley is deeply involved in entrepreneurial and leadership roles as a student of UNC-Chapel Hill.
He serves as a technical chair for Ai@UNC, a club dedicated to artificial intelligence for academic research, and Co-Editor-in-Chief for JOURney, the UNC Journal of Undergraduate Research.
Lab Alumni
Currently a senior student at Amherst College
ALLISON LACROIX | Summer Intern 2024
Currently a Ph.D. student at UNC-CH
SAWYER GRIZZARD | Ph.D. Rotation Student Winter 2024
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