Team

Principal Investigator

  • UTSW Faculty Profile

  • Seungwon (Sebastian) Choi, Ph.D.

    Assistant Professor

    Virginia Murchison Linthicum Scholar in Medical Research

    Department of Psychiatry

    Department of Neuroscience

    Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Management

    Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute

  • Sebastian was born and raised in South Korea and received his B.S. and M.S. from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), where he studied molecular mechanisms underlying synapse formation. He obtained his Ph.D. at Harvard University, where he studied behavioral arousal and quiescence in C. elegans. As a postdoctoral fellow in David Ginty’s lab at Harvard Medical School, he studied ascending spinal pathways that convey touch and pain signals to the brain. Sebastian joined the Department of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center as an Assistant Professor in July 2022.

Postdoctoral Fellow/Research Associate

  • Yoshiyuki (Yoshi) Omura, M.D./Ph.D.

    Senior Research Associate

    Yoshi earned his MD/PhD from Toyama University in Japan. During PhD training, he conducted neuroscience research in the Kitamura lab at UTSW, focusing on hippocampal circuit mechanisms for spatial working memory using large-scale electrophysiology recordings. Yoshi joined the Choi lab in June 2024.

    Google Scholar

  • Seungha Kim, RN, Ph.D.

    Postdoctoral Fellow

    Seungha received his Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Chung-Ang University in South Korea. He pursued his Ph.D. at Seoul National University College of Medicine, focusing on neurophysiology in the mouse cerebellum. After completing his Ph.D., Seungha joined the Choi lab as a postdoctoral fellow in September 2024.

    Google Scholar

Graduate Students

  • Ruining (Rae) Hu, B.S.

    PhD Student (Neuroscience)

    Rae earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology from Nanjing University in China. She conducted her undergraduate thesis research at Columbia University, where she studied the neurobiology of sleep. Rae joined the Choi lab for PhD training in February 2024.

  • Nadine Piazza, B.A.

    PhD Student (Neuroscience)

    Nadine received her bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Geneseo. Post-graduation she developed an interest in sensory neurobiology and innate behavioral drive, first as a technician at Columbia University investigating a role for the cerebellum in feeding and gastrointestinal function; then as a researcher at Kallyope, a biotech startup focused on harnessing the gut-brain axis for therapeutic development. Nadine joined the Choi lab as a Neuroscience PhD student in March 2024.

  • Gina Lee, M.S.

    PhD Student (Neuroscience)

    Gina earned her bachelor’s degree from Yonsei University, South Korea. Her undergraduate thesis project was discovering neural circuits underlying sexual behavior-induced reward. After growing her interest in social neuroscience, she moved on to study Autism Spectrum Disorder in mouse models and gained her master’s degree from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Gina joined the Choi lab as a Neuroscience PhD student in December 2024.

Staff

  • Gabrielle (Gabi) Williams, B.S.

    Research Technician

    Gabi earned her bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from Tulane University in May 2024. At Tulane Medical School, she studied Alzheimer’s Disease by investigating the effects of pre-existing metabolic disorders and estrogen supplementation on memory cognition. She moved back to Dallas to join the Choi lab in June 2024.

  • Lissette Balcazar, B.A.

    Department Administrator

Undergraduate Students

  • Snisha Sura

    UTD student

  • Umair Mohammed

    UTD Green Fellow

  • Vaishnavi Vishwanathan

    UTD student

  • Anokhi Patel

    UTD student

  • Zahra Khan

    UTD student

Alumni

  • Rohita Arjarapu

    Undergraduate student: Summer internship (2023). Currently, a UTD undergrad

  • Yeira Lopez

    Undergraduate student: SURF program (2023). Currently, a UTEP undergrad

  • Marlyn Torres

    Research Technician (2022 - 2023). Currently, an engineer at Abbott.

  • Lindsey Ro

    High School Intern: UTSW STARS Program (2024). Currently, a senior at Creekview High School.

  • Isabel Taggart

    Research Technician (2022-2024). Currently, a Master's degree (Clinical Psychology) student at Palo Alto University.

  • Happy Le

    MD student (2023 - 2024). Currently, having residency training (surgery) at UT Southwestern Medical Center.