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Amynah Pradhan Lab

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Amynah Pradhan Lab
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Amynah Pradhan PhD

  • Associate Professor
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • University of Illinois at Chicago
Dr. Pradhan’s research focuses on the neuropharmacology of opioid receptors. She received her PhD in Pharmacology and Therapeutics from McGill University, where she studied the behaviorally relevant populations of mu and delta opioid receptors, and interactions between them. Dr. Pradhan then did a postdoctoral fellowship at AstraZeneca Montreal, where she helped characterize a novel protein involved with pain processing.

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Amy Pradhan

Jhoan Aguilar

  • Graduate Research Assistant
  • Graduate Student, Graduate Program in Neuroscience
  • Department of Psychiatry, UIC
Jhoan graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.S in Biology and minors in Neuroscience and Chemistry in 2019. During his post-bac experience, he worked at the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies at UNC in the lab of Donita Robinson. Jhoan is currently a PhD student in the Graduate Program of Neuroscience program at UIC. He's interested in learning about the molecular basis of alcohol addiction and the involvement of pain in perpetuating addictive behaviors.

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Jhoan Aguilar

Rebecca Bocian MSc

  • Predoctoral Fellow
Rebecca received her Bachelors in Microbiology from Western Illinois University in 2018 and her master’s in molecular biology from Western Illinois University in 2020. She joined the Pradhan Lab in 2021 and her work focuses on the antidepressant effects of delta opioid receptors agonists.

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Rebecca Bocian

Haley Cropper BS

  • Graduate Research Assistant
  • Graduate Student, Medical Scientist Training Program
  • Department of Psychiatry, UIC
Haley Cropper is a graduate student in the Medical Scientist Training Program at UIC-COM. Before starting medical school, she received her Bachelor of Science in Biopsychology Cognition Neuroscience at the University of Michigan, and spent 2 years doing neuro-radiology research at Stanford University. There, she developed novel positron emission tomography (PET) tracers to study neuroinflammation in chronic pain, Multiple Sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s Disease. She is now studying neuroimmune interactions in preclinical models of migraine and depression in the Pradhan Lab.

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Haley Cropper

Isacc Dripps PhD

  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Isaac received his PhD in Pharmacology from University of Michigan in 2017. He joined the lab in 2017 and is investigating how neuropeptides and opioid signaling regulate migraine-associated pain.

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Isaac Dripps

Elizaveta Mangutov BS

  • Graduate Research Assistant/Graduate Student
  • Graduate Program in Neuroscience
  • Department of Psychiatry, UIC

Elizaveta received her Bachelors in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Chemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2019. She joined the Pradhan Lab in 2020 and her work focuses on the effect of delta opioid receptors on opioid induced hyperalgesia, cortical spreading depression, and migraine.

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Elizaveta Mangutov

Laura Segura Moye PhD

  • Graduate Research Assistant, Graduate Program in Neuroscience
  • Graduate Research Assistant
  • Department of Psychiatry, UIC

Laura received her BSc in Neuroscience and Spanish in 2014 from Agnes Scott College, and joined the lab in 2015. For her thesis project, she is studying how delta opioid receptor activation regulates headache-associated pain using mouse models of post-traumatic headache, chronic migraine, medication overuse headache, and opioid-induced hyperalgesia.

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Laura Moye

Maddy Vasquez

  • Undergraduate Research Volunteer
Maddy Vasquez is an undergraduate student in the Honor’s College at UIC, earning a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology. After graduation, she is planning to attend medical school and pursue a career as a physician. She joined the Pradhan Lab in January of 2022.

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Maddy Vasquez

Whitney Wyche

  • Psychiatry Volunteer
  • Rotation Student
Whitney completed her undergraduate studies in Biology at Spelman College, and Post-Baccalaureate Research Education at The University of Iowa. She is passionate about  understanding the neurobiological and physiological mechanisms of depression and anxiety, to provide new diagnostic tools and therapeutics. She is an advocate for healthy equity, and social justice for vulnerable populations through education, research, and policy. It is her hope to continue to study neuropsychiatric disorders using a multidisciplinary approach throughout her journey in the GPN at UIC.

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