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.

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.

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Graduate Students

  • Ruining (Rae) Hu, B.S.

    PhD Student (Neuroscience) OBI SPROUTS Fellow

    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.

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  • 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.

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  • Gina Lee, M.S.

    PhD Student (Neuroscience) OBI NSTP Fellow

    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.

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  • Abhira Ravirala, B.S.

    Research Technician

    Abhira earned her bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Texas at Dallas in December 2024. During her undergraduate studies, she investigated chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain and the role of the sympathetic nervous system in mammary gland development. She joined the Choi Lab in February 2025.

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  • Anokhi Patel, B.S.

    Part-time Research Technician

    Anokhi conducted part-time undergraduate research in the Choi lab and joined the lab as a part-time research technician in June 2025.

  • Zahra Khan, B.S.

    Part-time Research Technician

    Zahra conducted part-time undergraduate research in the Choi lab and joined the lab as a part-time research technician in June 2025.

  • Umair Mohammed, B.S.

    Part-time Research Technician

    Umair conducted research in the Choi lab as a UTD Green Fellow in 2024 and joined the lab as a part-time research technician in August 2025.

  • Lissette Balcazar, B.A.

    Department Administrator

Undergraduate Students

  • Snisha Sura

    UTD student

  • Vaishnavi Vishwanathan

    UTD student

  • Rex Peikari

    UTD Green Fellow (2025)

  • Nika Diana

    UTD student

  • Raameen Naeem

    UTD student

  • Abdullah Khan

    UTD student

  • Aleeza Hussain

    UTD student

Alumni

  • Rohita Arjarapu

    Undergraduate student: Summer internship (2023). Undergraduate at UTD

  • Yeira Lopez

    Undergraduate student: SURF program (2023). Undergraduate at UTEP

  • Marlyn Torres

    Research Technician (2022 - 2023). Engineer at Abbott.

  • Isabel Taggart

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

  • Happy Le

    MD student (2023 - 2024). Resident at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

  • Lindsey Ro

    UTSW STARS Program High school summer intern (2024, 2025). Undergraduate at Rice University

  • Seungha Kim

    Postdoctoral Fellow (2024 - 2025). Postdoctoral Fellow at KIST (Korea)