Meet Our T32 Program Directors and Fellows
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Co-Director, T32 Postdoctoral Research Training Program
Dr. Mark Shen is a developmental neuroscientist, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, and investigator in the Neuroscience Center and CIDD. He is also the founding Co-Director of the CIDD Clinical Trials Program. Dr. Shen earned his PhD from the University of California-Davis MIND Institute with David Amaral and completed the CIDD T32 postdoctoral fellowship with Joe Piven. Dr. Shen has pioneered research on the early brain development and cerebrospinal fluid physiology in autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders including fragile X, Down syndrome, and Angelman syndrome. His research identifying early brain markers of developmental disabilities has resulted in >40 publications and multiple awards including the Early-Career Investigator of the Year by the International Society for Autism Research and the Hettleman Prize. As a former T32 fellow himself and then a T32 faculty mentor since 2017, Dr. Shen is the ideal fit to co-lead our T32 training program with Dr. Philpot.
Co-Director, T32 Postdoctoral Research Training Program
Dr. Ben Philpot has been the Director of the CIDD T32 postdoctoral training program since 2023, having previously served from 2009-2023 as the Associate Director. Dr. Philpot is a Kenan Distinguished Professor in the Department of Cell Biology & Physiology. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Virginia and performed a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Mark Bear at M.I.T. and Brown University. He is the Associate Director of the UNC Neuroscience Center and a member of the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities. Dr. Philpot seeks to understand the pathophysiology underlying monogenic neurodevelopmental disorders, and he is developing small molecule and gene therapies to treat these disorders. His research focuses on early-stage development of treatments for Pitt-Hopkins, Dup15q, and Angelman syndromes. Dr. Philpot has >100 peer-reviewed scientific publications and has won multiple awards for his work in neurodevelopmental disorders.
Current T32 Postdoctoral Fellows
Drs. Shen and Philpot work with a talented group of postdoctoral research fellows in our interdisciplinary training program on neurodevelopmental disorders research: Scott Albert, Samuel (Sam) Barth, Marissa DiPiero, Crisma Emmanuel, Jieun (Esther) Park, and Joshua Rutsohn. Learn more about our current cohort below.
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Scott Albert
Dr. Scott Albert received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University working with Dr. Reza Shadmehr. His research examines resilience in motor circuits across humans and mice. As a UNC CIDD T32 Fellow, Dr. Albert will work with Dr. Adam Hantman, in examining whole-brain maps of motor activity in mouse models of Angelman syndrome and Dup15q syndrome. He will use fMRI and electrophysiology to identify how UBE3A expression regulates the adaptability and robustness of motor control circuits.
Samuel BarthDr. Samuel Barth received his PhD in Neuroscience from Wake Forest University working with Dr. Kimberly Raab-Graham. His graduate research examined how mTOR dysregulation affects GABAergic synaptic formation and elimination in a neurodevelopmental disorder called Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC). As a UNC CIDD T32 Fellow, Dr. Barth will examine the molecular contributions to Dup15q and Angelman syndromes while working with Dr. Ben Philpot. His research will disambiguate how differential expression of Ube3A contributes to Dup15q and Angelman syndrome pathology.
Marissa DiPieroDr. Marissa DiPiero received her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Wisconsin-Madison under the mentorship of Dr. Doug Dean. Her research focuses on the development and utilization of diffusion MRI methodologies to study brain microstructure across the lifespan and uncover differences in brain-behavior relationships associated with autism. As a UNC CIDD T32 fellow, Dr. DiPiero will work with Dr. John Gilmore to investigate individual differences in the developmental trajectories of brain-behavior relationships in children at an increased risk for neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism and schizophrenia.
Crisma EmmanuelDr. Crisma Emmanuel received her PhD in Nursing from UNC at Chapel Hill working with Dr. Hudson Santos. Her research examines socio-environmental factors that affect child development and health among children at high risk of developing a neurodevelopmental disorder. She is currently a T32 postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Michael O’Shea on examining environmental factors that affect the health and development of extremely preterm born children. As a T32 fellow at the CIDD, Dr. Emmanuel is evaluating biosocial factors affecting the well-being of children with a neurodevelopmental disorder.
Jieun ParkDr. Jieun (Esther) Park received her PhD in Cell Biology from Duke University with Dr. Michel Bagnat. Her PhD work focused on the development of specialized intestinal cells important for protein absorption. For her postdoc, she decided to switch gears and focus on neuroscience with the eventual goal to better understand the connection of brain and gut development. As a UNC CIDD T32 fellow, Dr. Park works with Dr. Jason Stein to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms leading to cortical surface area expansion in autistic individuals early in life using brain organoids as a model system.
Joshua RutsohnDr. Joshua Rutsohn received his DrPH in biostatistics from the Gillings School of Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill under the guidance of Dr. Young Truong. His research encompasses the estimation of latent variables from longitudinal and time-series data. As a UNC CIDD T32 Fellow, Dr. Rutsohn works with Dr. Truong to construct latent classes from signal processing and neuroimaging data. His research aims to develop new methods to model heterogeneity inherent to neurodevelopmental data.