Dr. Joëlle Lopez | Lab Manager
Dr. Joëlle Lopez obtained her Ph.D. in Behavioral Neurosciences from the Université de Strasbourg, France, studying the brain structures involved in recent vs. remote spatial memory retrieval. She extended her work to fear memory during her post-doc in Dr. Karim Nader’s lab at McGill University in Montréal, and studied the molecular mechanisms underlying fear memory retrieval. As a Research Associate in Dr. Tak Pan Wong’s lab at the Douglas Hospital Research Institute, Dr. Lopez worked on the molecular mechanisms underlying susceptibility to depressive-like behavior. She now brings her extensive knowledge of behavioral neuroscience to the Bagot lab to set up new behavioral tests and stress models, help students and oversee the lab’s daily operations.
Mariana Alonso | Lab Manager
Mariana Alonso received her BSc degree in Psychology at Concordia University. After completion of her undergraduate degree, she then proceeded to work under the supervision of Dr. Shimon Amir at the Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology (CSBN), where she obtained her Masters degree. Her graduate thesis focused on investigating the role of circadian clock genes on depressive and anxiety-like behaviors in male and female rodents. She then joined Dr. Brouillette’s lab at the University of Montreal as a full-time research assistant, where she investigated phosphatase STEP and its involvement in memory performance. Besides enjoying research, Mariana loves reading a good fiction book or spending time with her cat.
Dr. Chung Tse | Research Associate - Electrophysiology
Dr. Yiu Chung Tse received his Ph.D. in Physiology from The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. After that he joined Dr. Tak Pan Wong’s Lab at the Douglas Hospital Research Institute in Montréal as a postdoctoral fellow. During this period, he studied the functional role of NMDA receptors in chronic stress animal models. Yiu Chung joined the Bagot Lab in 2018. Now, he is using electrophysiology and optogenetic techniques to study synaptic and cellular consequences of chronic stress in mouse models.
Dr. Vedrana Cvetkovska | Post-Doctoral Researcher - Molecular Neuroscience
Dr. Vedrana Cvetkovska received a PhD in Neuroscience at McGill University in 2015 for her work on molecular mechanisms of synaptic targeting. She did a first post-doctoral fellowship studying synaptic development at the University of British Columbia. In 2019 she returned to Montréal to join the Bagot lab where she is integrating her molecular expertise with circuit-level analysis and behavioral models of depression. Her research focuses on transcriptomic changes that occur in response to stress. Science is her passion, but she also works hard to buy nice things for her cats and dogs.
Dr. Rand Eid | Post-Doctoral Researcher - Translational Neuroscience
Dr. Rand Eid received her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of British Columbia in 2019. Her graduate work with Dr. Liisa Galea examined neuroplastic and neuroimmune mechanisms by which reproductive hormones or experiences can modulate stress susceptibility in female rodents. Rand joined the teams of Dr. Rosemary Bagot and Dr. Kieran O’Donnell in 2020. Her postdoctoral research adopts a translational approach to studying perinatal depression, where she will leverage mouse models to examine neural mechanism underlying risk and guide the discovery of biomarkers in pregnant women. Besides being a scientist, Rand is an amateur violist and an avid home cook.
Dr. Delong Zhou | Post-Docotoral Researcher - Neuroinformatics
Dr. Delong Zhou received his PhD in Microbiology at Université de Sherbrooke in 2022. Under the co-supervision of Dr. Michelle Scott and Dr. Sherif Abou Elela, he studied the mechanism of alternative splicing regulation and constructed a webserver to identify alternatively included protein features. He joined the Bagot lab in 2022 to explore the world of neuroscience. His research focuses on transcriptomic changes induced by anti-depressant drugs. Outside of the lab, Delong used to play a lot of video games, but now he spends more time playing violin.
Graduate Students
Eshaan Iyer | PhD Candidate
Eshaan graduated in 2017 from Macalester College with a B.A. in Neuroscience. In his final year, he worked as an undergraduate student in the Rothwell lab at the University of Minnesota studying attention and impulsivity. In the fall of 2017 Eshaan joined the Bagot lab as a Ph.D. student in the Integrated Program in Neuroscience. He uses behavioral, computational, and circuit approaches to understand the relationship between decision making and stress susceptibility. Also known as the man with the boxes, you can usually find him inadequately dressed for the weather or exploring Montréal.
Gabrielle Siemonsmeier | PhD Candidate
Prior to moving to this barren, frozen wasteland, Gabrielle completed a dual Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at Université de Strasbourg in France and Universität des Saarlandes in Germany, followed by a Master of Science in Neuroscience at Charité University Hospital in Berlin, Germany. She's been lab-hopping a lot, but her most extensive research experience was in Prof. Helmut Kettenmann's lab, studying how oligodendrocyte networks in the corpus callosum supply energy to the axons they myelinate. She joined the Bagot lab because of her interest in the pathophysiology of depression and anxiety, and is currently interrogating the neural substrate of valence discrimination.
Lizette Herrera | PhD Candidate
Liz obtained her B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering and minor in Neuroscience at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico. She joined the Integrated Program in Neuroscience at McGill University in Fall 2019 and is co-mentored by Dr. Bagot. In collaboration with Dr. Mallar Chakravarty’s CoBrA lab, she is investigating the effects of chronic stress on functional connectivity by integrating multi-modal data including in vivo calcium imaging and fMRI. Outside the lab, she can be found doing CrossFit or reading a good book.
Heike Schuler | PhD Candidate
Heike received her BSc in Psychology at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands. During her MSc in Neuroscience at Utrecht University, she conducted research in the labs of Prof. Marian Joëls and Prof. Nikolaos Daskalakis. Heike joined the Bagot lab in Fall 2020 as a PhD student in the Integrated Program in Neuroscience. She will investigate the relationship between chronic stress and learning using behavioral, genetic, and transcriptional data. In her free time, Heike can be found doing yoga, climbing and knitting socks to survive the cold Montreal winter.
Serena Wu | PhD Candidate
Serena graduated from Columbia university in 2020 with a BA in Neuroscience. During her time in New York, she worked with Dr. Christoph Anacker studying the impacts of early life stress on the development of psychiatric diseases. Serena joined the Bagot lab in the fall of 2021 as a Master’s student in the Integrated Program in Neuroscience. She will use in vivo single photon calcium imaging to study the role of a novel genetic regulator of resilience and susceptibility in the prefrontal cortex. Outside of the lab, you can find Serena at the archery range or the dance studio.
Marina Broomfield | MSc Student
Marina obtained her B.Sc. in Pharmacology and Therapeutics with a minor in Psychology from McGill University. In Fall 2022, she joined McGill's Integrated Program in Neuroscience, co-mentored by Dr. Bagot. Collaborating with Dr. Mallar Chakravarty’s CoBrA lab, Marina investigates psilocybin's effects on depression using multi-modal data integration, including in vivo calcium imaging and fMRI, to analyze functional connectivity in male and female mouse depression models.
Current Undergraduates
Emily Cha
Emily is a U2 student majoring in Anatomy and Cell biology with a minor in Neuroscience. She is working on image analysis and qPCR to study the expression of Sdk1 in mouse development and is interested in studying the molecular pathways that promote resilience to depression.
Pets of the Bagot Lab
Gus | Vedrana
Gus is Vedrana’s Swedish vallhund. Being a hard-working herding dog he keeps the humans and animals in line. He’s the reason we don’t need a doorbell: he doesn’t bark though, he bjärks in Swedish.
Hiro | Vedrana
Hiro came into Vedrana’s life as a 1 day old kitten in 2009. Since then they’ve been inseparable. Despite being a picky eater (who prefers the most expensive brands and only sometimes) he’s a gentle, patient, and intuitive cat- definitely an old soul. Weird fact about Hiro: he has a British accent.
Kali | Vedrana
Vedrana’s Caribbean princess, is a rescue pup from the Cayman Islands. Her genetic profile revealed a mix of chow chow, German shepherd, akita and Parson Russell terrier. She loves the snow, chasing after squirrels and is the most excited creature in the world when her humans come home from work.
Marvin | Vedrana
Marvin was adopted by Vedrana in Vancouver, BC. He can be shy around strangers but eventually wins everyone over with that irresistible black cat charm. One of his favorite activities is “singing” at 5am.
Alastor | Mariana
Alastor is Mariana’s Cream British Short Hair Cat. He is a very playful and friendly cat (too friendly for his own good). He is an attention seeker, but do not be deceived by his fluffiness as he will run away the minute you try to pet him. He loves food and sleeping just like his owner.
Luna | Gabrielle
Luna (name unconfirmed) isn't actually Gabrielle's pet, she's Gabrielle's neighbours' pet. Supposedly. However, the feline is not picky regarding those she'll pester for affection. Luna is quite fearless and relentless in demanding this and she'll jump onto/into window sills, planters or second floor mesh window screens to command Gabrielle's attention.
Noireau | Joëlle
Master purrer, guardian of boxes, he loves conversations and sitting with you at the table. Always there to cuddle when you feel blue, very patient with godzilla-like toddlers, one could not ask for a better companion.
Pacha | Joëlle
At first discreet, her cold indifference to people was shattered by a baby.... she now cannot get enough affection.... Loves to escape and run outdoors, and to play with her food in water bowls. She is quite a mystery!
Lab Alumni
Jessie Muir | PhD
2016 - 2023
Juliet Meccia | MSc
2021 - 2022
Shama Huq | Fullbright Student
2021 - 2022
Pedro Bordignon | Bioinformatician 2019 - 2021
Chase Clark | MSc
2017 - 2020
Megan Kairiss
Research Assistant
2018-2019
Franca Lacroix
Research Assistant 2017-2018
