Dr. Cindy Linn's Retinal Neurobiology Lab
Our Research Team
Professor
Dr. Linn received her BS and MS from the University of Illinois (Chicago) and her PhD from Rice University (Houston) in neurophysiology. She has been at Western Michigan University in the Department of Biological Sciences since 2000.
Graduate Student
Jake Spitsbergen obtained his BS from Michigan State University and his MS from Western Michigan University in Biological Sciences from Dr. Linn's lab. He has recently returned to the Linn lab as a graduate student in the PhD program. Jake is using transgenic mice to examine synaptic connections in the brain that newly generated retinal ganglion axons make and is analyzing the functional changes in pattern visually evoked potentials from the occipital lobe. While pursuing his PhD degree, Jake also works at Eurofin in Kalamazoo MI where he utilizes his molecular biology expertise.
Graduate Student
Hope Vanzo-Sparks received her BS from Kalamazoo College and joined the Linn lab in 2022. She is currently a PhD student in Dr. Linn's lab analyzing the molecular pathways and genes involved in acetylcholine induced neurogenesis in the adult mammalian retina.
Honors Thesis/MS Graduate Student
Giovanna Nolasco DeCarlvalho is currently completing her Honor's thesis research in Dr. Linn's lab. After graduating with her BS and Honor's degree from WMU, Giovanna will continue in the Linn lab working on a MS research project analyzing the functional effects of neurogenesis in adult mammalian retinas after blast exposure by analyzing electroretinograms, pattern ERGs and visually evoked potentials.
Graduate Student
Samantha Luzadre received her BS from Kalamazoo College in 2022. She is currently a graduate student in Dr. Linn's lab in the MS program, examining
neurogenesis and functional recovery in a mouse glaucoma model using an acetylcholine receptor agonist. Samantha also works at Eurofin in Kalamazoo MI.