Team members
Darijana Horvat - Research Assistant / Lab Manager
Darijana Horvat received her B.S. in Chemistry from Texas A&M University. During her undergraduate career, she worked with Dr. Coran Watanabe investigating the mode of action and biosynthesis of azinomycin B. She also interned at the Institute Rudjer Boskovic (Division of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry) in Zagreb, Croatia where she separated enantiomers using HPLC.
After graduation Darijana worked in several labs, studying preeclampsia, hypertension, cancer (cholangiocarcinoma), lymphatics, microbial pathogenesis and immunology. She joined the Geoffroy lab in December 2019 as the Research Assistant/Lab manager. One of her projects is to test the protective and regenerative properties of different test compounds in mice models of spinal cord injury.
In her free time Darijana enjoys playing trivia, board games and billiards with her friends and family. She likes music, live theater performances, movies and TV shows. In her quiet time she loves to read books. Did I mention she (really) loves chocolate?
Sydney Johnson - Research Assistant
Sydney graduated with a degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from Texas A&M in 2023. She worked in the Geoffroy Lab as an undergrad, and now is spending her gap year learning more about the inner workings of the lab and research in the realm of SCI.
With a passion for neurodegenerative diseases, Sydney plans to attend grad school to expand the world of research in cognitive decline. She wants to learn more about disease progression in the hope that knowing more about these diseases will help those who suffer from them.
She loves spending time with family enjoying the great outdoors and attending church on Sundays. Outside of the lab, you can find her running around the handball courts, or else reading, painting, or sewing. And she'll stop at nothing for a bowl of ice cream!
Alejandra Gonzales - Research Assistant
Alejandra graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago Chile. She joined a laboratory at the biology department in Texas A&M University in Aug 2001 and has enjoyed research and life in College Station since then. She finished her PH. D in Biology 2012 where she worked with Drosophila melanogaster in unraveling the Sex determination pathway and gen expression of the master regulatory gen Sex lethal. She drifted her work towards neurobiology in 2018 when she studied the functionality of the different sugar taste receptors in Drosophila’s leg. In 2024 she joined Geoffroy’s lab. Her current focused is to test neuroprotective drugs in primary neuronal and glial cell culture as well as to participate in the in vivo drug testing studies.
In her free time Alejandra spends time with her daughter cooking amazing food. She also likes to do paper crafting and explore many other creative outlets.
Post-Docs
Theresa Sutherland - Post-Doc
Theresa completed a Bachelor of Forensic Biology in Biomedical Science from the University of Technology Sydney (yes, Australia!), with a special interest in DNA profiling and ambition to work in CSI. Then she completed a Bachelor of Science (Honors) in Biomedical Science at UTS where she studied the acute cellular response to SCI in different ages of rats. Theresa then obtained her Ph.D. in Neuroscience at UTS in Dr. Catherine Gorrie lab (University of Technology Sydney) studying injury progression and neuro-inflammation after SCI with a particular focus on the differences between adult and pediatric SCI.
Theresa recently joined our lab to continue working on the themes of age and SCI, looking into older animal this time…She's trying to understand the age-dependent decline in the growth and regenerative potential of axons, with a specific interest in the role of STAT3 and mitochondrial dynamics. The eventual goal of which is to restore regenerative potential to aged axons, and find strategies to enhance axon growth and functional recovery after SCI irrespective of age. She is also involved in different projects aiming at developing tools to accelerate the discovery of molecules controlling axon growth (non-viral CRISPR/Cas9 in vivo targeting, in vivo protein delivery, 3D imaging). In the long term (very long term), she hopes to marry this ongoing work to her interest in pediatric SCI and to get a map/timeline of neuro-inflammation and axon regeneration across all ages to find effective therapeutics for all SCI patients.
Theresa loves to escape into different worlds- Movies, Books, Music, TV- and explore this one (yes, traveling!). Also, she can not stop drinking coffee...and teaching the lab "real" english (basically translating Australian to American...)
Sepideh Hosseiniporgham - Post-Doc
Sepideh earned her PhD in Biotechnology from the University of Sassari in Italy. Her doctoral research focused on developing novel biotechnological approaches for the detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) in milk and other clinical samples. She optimized a novel milk ELISA and a phage-based assay to facilitate the detection of antibodies against MAP-specific epitopes (L3P, L5P) and to assess MAP viability, respectively.
Following her PhD she joined Texas A&M University as a postdoctoral research associate in the lab of Prof. Sacchettini. Her research focused on drug discovery and high-throughput whole cell assay screenings for inhibitors of SecA1-regulatable Mycobacterium smegmatis, various Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) targets (e.g. Pknb, Pks13, NadD, ArgB, Malate synthase), as well as prostate and colon cancer targets. Additionally, she contributed to purifying Mtb proteins (including RibF, SatS, Mce4E), conducting crystallization studies of target proteins, optimizing RibF assay (Mtb FAD synthase). She recently joined our team, where she investigates the impact of age and mitochondrial dysfunctions on the recovery of patients with spinal cord injury as well as subsequent infections caused by pathogens including but not limited to MAP, Mtb, and HERV in these patients.
Sepideh loves swimming, jagging, travelling, and spending time with family and friends.
Graduate Students
Ashley Douthitt (ashleydouthitt@tamu.edu)
Ashley graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from California State University, Chico in Spring 2019. After graduation, she moved back to her hometown San Diego, California. She then joined a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company as a Research Associate focused on the discovery and development of therapeutics in the disease areas of inflammation and immunology. Ashley is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Medical Sciences program in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics.
Outside of the lab, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, exploring new places, and weight training.
Erika Marks (ecelinem@tamu.edu)
Erika graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelors in Neuroscience and a minor in Psychology in Spring 2022. While there, she joined research for the first time, working with larval zebrafish looking into the development of their sensory systems. She is now looking into the effect that SCI has on cognition and adult neurogenesis in the mouse hippocampus. Erika is a Ph.D. student in the Institute for Neuroscience in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Theraputics.
Outside the lab, Erika enjoys spending time with friends, playing frisbee golf, (or any pick-up sport she's most recently got wrangled into!), playing card games, or just talking. She also enjoys nights in with her cats and a good book or TV show.
Master Students
Alexandra (Sasha) Koustova (akoustova@tamu.edu)
Sasha graduated from Texas A&M University in Spring 2024 with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. During her undergrad, she was in the Geoffroy lab from 2020 until the end of 2023, focusing on cardiometabolic function post spinal cord injury and other projects. Currently, she is enrolled in the Master of Science in Medical Sciences with plans to pursue TAMU Medical School after the program. Outside of the lab, she is heavily involved in the Supplemental Instruction Program at the Academic Success Center on campus. Outside of the lab, she enjoys reading, spending time with friends, and playing tennis and piano.
Mary Smith (mksmith00@tamu.edu)
Mary Smith is currently a Master of Biotechnology student at Texas A&M University, where she previously completed a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology with a minor in Bioinformatics. After graduating, she completed a certificate in Biotechnology Laboratory Sciences and joined an agricultural company in a full time lab position to culture bacillus subtilis cells to be fermented and purified for probiotics production, conduct bacterial contamination investigations, and do quality assurance and control tests on all raw materials. In the lab, her research project is focused on testing different compounds to improve gene therapy efficiency and utilizing imaging and quantification techniques (high content imaging). Outside of academia and professional settings, Mary enjoys reading fantasy/sci fi novels, working out, watching movies, skiing, playing soccer and spending time with her friends.
Kimberly (Kim) Anderson (knanderson@tamu.edu)
Kimberly graduated from the University of North Texas in 2021 with a Bachelor's in Biochemistry, along with minors in Biology and Anthropology. Following graduation, she joined UTHealth as a Research Assistant, where she focused on stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and blood-brain barrier infiltration. Kimberly is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology, with plans to continue her education in a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine program.
Outside of her academic and research pursuits, Kimberly enjoys creating press-on nails, reading, and spending time with her family, friends, and cats.
M.D. Students
Matt Thompson (matt.thompson@tamu.edu) - MD Candidate | Class of 2025
Matt is a medical student at Texas A&M who has long been interested in neuroscience. He received a BS degree in neuroscience from Brigham Young University, where he worked in a lab studying the mechanisms of chemical addiction in mice and rats. Matt was also employed as a CNA for 2 years, caring for individuals with diverse neurological and other disabilities, including spinal cord injury. After graduating in 2020, Matt and his family moved to Houston, where he spent a year in the lab of Dr. Matt McGinley at Baylor College of Medicine studying attentional effort and reversal learning in mice.
After receiving his M.D. degree Matt plans to pursue a career in neurosurgery. Outside of medicine and science, Matt enjoys playing basketball, climbing mountains, and spending time with his wife and daughter.
Aaron Bennett (atb27m@tamu.edu) - MD Candidate | Class of 2026
Aaron is a medical student at the Texas A&M School of Medicine. He served as a combat medic in the U.S. Army for four years, in which he was stationed in South Korea, the 101st Airborne in Kentucky, and deployed to Afghanistan. He received a B.S. degree in biology from the University of Texas at Dallas, where he worked in a lab studying proteins associated with ALS. He then moved to BCS to begin medical school, and joined the Geoffroy Lab in January 2023. Outside of medicine, he enjoys lifting weights, spending time with his wife and two dogs, learning the guitar, and watching sports such as the UFC & NFL.
Jordan Newman (j_newman@tamu.edu) - MD Candidate | Class of 2026
Jordan is a new dad, medical student at Texas A&M School of Medicine, graduate of Baylor University, and veteran of the United States Air Force. After graduating from Baylor University in 2016 with a degree in Biochemistry and Military Studies, Jordan was stationed at RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom from 2017-2020 where he served as an Aircraft Maintenance and Munitions Officer for the NATO mission across Western Europe. Most importantly, however, he got to hike and snowboard across the continent! After leaving the Air Force in 2020, Jordan was accepted to medical school where he completed his Master's in Education and is now figuring out what he wants to be when he grows up. When he isn't studying, Jordan is renovating the house and finding excuses to buy new power tools, coming up with new and original dad jokes, and convincing himself he can take another day off from the gym.
Undergraduates
Kaianne Winslow
I am a Neuroscience major with a Psychology minor and I am a part of the Texas A&M Class of 2026. After graduating, I plan to attend Medical School and am currently planning on pursuing a career in neurosurgery. Most of my free time is spent studying, hanging out with friends, reading, baking, or playing video games!
Isabella (Bella) Lerma
Bella Lerma is a Junior Undergraduate Neuroscience Major. This is her first semester in the lab but she is excited to learn the ropes and get involved further with projects. She has aspirations of going into the medical field, with a focus in anesthesiology.
Sneha Nadella