Current Members

Email: Cleusa.deoliveira@schulich.uwo.ca

Cleusa is the lab technician/manager. She is responsible for all the ordering in the Lab and she also helps all the students with their projects. Cleusa works with the animals, doing surgeries and behavioral tests. She also works with immunohistochemistry experiments and PCR tests. Cleusa just loves her work!

Outside of the lab, she loves to spend time with her family and her shih-tzu dog, Dodo.

Email: edoornae@uwo.ca
PhD Candidate

Ella is a PhD student in the Neuroscience program. She is co-supervised by Dr. Susanne Schmid and Dr. Brian Allman. Her project examines the genetic and environmental effects on symptom development in the Cntnap2-knockout rat model for autism spectrum disorder. Ella completed her BSc at Western University in the Neuroscience Honors Specialization program. She worked in the Schmid lab throughout her undergraduate degree in which she completed an independent research credit and a fourth-year thesis project.

Outside of the lab, Ella is the co-captain of the Western Varsity Wrestling team. She enjoys reading, traveling, and doing yoga in her spare time.

Email: aelcheik@uwo.ca
PhD Candidate

Alaa is a PhD student in the Schmid lab; she is co-supervised by Dr. Susanne Schmid and Dr. Brian Allman. Her journey in science began at the University of Windsor where she completed her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience with a thesis examining the effect of noise on fish foraging behaviours. Currently, Alaa's research in the Schmid Lab focuses on investigating the underlying neural mechanisms of auditory sensory processing and the disruption of this processing in the CNTNAP2 knockout rat model.

Outside of the lab, Alaa likes to read, try new dessert recipes, and watch Disney movies.

Email: aseif5@uwo.ca
PhD Candidate

Ala is a PhD student in the Neuroscience program. She completed her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in biomedical engineering at Rafik Hariri University in Lebanon, where she investigated the use of ECG for personal identification and recognition. Ala is currently studying sensory filtering and sensorimotor gating, and whether they are linked to brainstem development in autism. She is co-supervised by Dr. Susanne Schmid and Dr. Ryan Stevenson.

Outside of the lab, Ala enjoys reading fiction and exploring new places.

Email: chant68@mcmaster.ca
MSc Candidate

Nita is a first-year master's student attending McMaster University co-supervised by Dr. Schmid and Dr. Choe. She completed her HBSc with a specialization in Neuroscience at Western University in 2024, where she completed a thesis project examining oxytocin neurons in the Cntnap2-KO rat model for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Currently, Nita continues her investigation of the oxytocin system by utilizing brain-clearing and light microscopy to compare the levels between mouse and rat models for Cntnap2.

Outside of the lab, Nita enjoys hiking and playing sports with her friends. She also loves to explore the city and try out new food places around the town!

Email: efenton4@uwo.ca
MSc Candidate

Liz is a MSc student in Anatomy and Cell Biology at Western. She completed her HBSc in Neuroscience at Western University, where her undergraduate thesis evaluated the effect of a novel electrotherapy on glioblastoma cell viability. Currently, Liz is developing a patient derived xenograft model of a paediatric brainstem cancer (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma) in immunodeficient rats. Concurrently, she investigates how the knockdown of Heat Shock Transcription Factor 1 protein impacts cell viability in this cancer.

Outside the lab, she enjoys going on hikes with her dog, experimenting in the kitchen, and participating in movie nights with her friends.

Email: hpineda2@uwo.ca
MSc Candidate

Hannah is a MSc student in the Neuroscience program at Western. She completed her HBSc in Kinesiology at McMaster University, where she completed a lab practicum and undergraduate thesis studying the impact of CARM1-knockout on fasting- and aging-induced skeletal muscle atrophy and ultimately led her to a love for research. Currently, Hannah is using whole cell patch clamp recordings of auditory structures in the brain to investigate acute and chronic impacts of R-baclofen injections at the cellular level in the Cntnap2-knockout rat during a critical period of auditory development.

Outside of the lab, Hannah has a diverse realm of interests including reading, weightlifting, hiking, yoga, painting, thrifting, listening to music, and going out with friends. She also spends too much time showing other people pictures of her cat, TJ.

Email: clemarq@uwo.ca
MSc Candidate

Cassie is a MSc student in the Neuroscience program. She completed her HBSc degree in Neuroscience and Mental Health at Carleton University, during which she analyzed the spatial distribution and expression of receptors linked to alcohol intake, and troubleshooted the one-trial tolerance phenomenon in two rodent anxiety paradigms. Cassie’s current research explores the connection between the auditory system and the oxytocin system through DREADD-mediated inhibition of the inferior colliculus and its resulting impacts on social behaviour in rats.

Outside of the lab, Cassie loves thrifting, rock climbing, and discovering new movies, music, and food.

Email: rshrest4@uwo.ca
Third Year Undergraduate
Independent Study Student

Renee Shrestha is a third-year undergraduate Honours Specialization in Neuroscience student at Western University. She is currently doing an independent study in the lab, investigating glutamate and GABA production in homozygous and heterozygous cross-fostered Cntnap2 rat in the PnC though western blot to understand how early postnatal environments may affect this model of autism.

In her free time, Renee enjoys reading, staying active, and catching up on her favorite shows. In addition, she works as a Conversation Facilitator at the Aphasia Institute and serves as an executive member of both UNICEF Western and the Western Undergraduate Neuroscience Society.

Email: xche533@uwo.ca
Second Year Undergraduate

Maria Chen is a second-year Medical Sciences student at Western University. She is assisting Ella in investigating the effects of an enriched environment development in the Cntnap2 knockout rat model for autism spectrum disorder. She is currently working in the Schmid lab as a volunteer.

Outside of the lab, Maria enjoys baking new dessert recipes, hiking, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.

Email: jlau248@uwo.ca
Website developer

Josephine is a volunteer website developer at the Schmid Lab. She graduated from Western University with an Honors Double Major in Medical Sciences and Biology in 2014 and a Bachelors of Nursing Science in 2016. She started working as Dr. Schmid's work study student in 2013 and continued on as a volunteer after graduation. Using WordPress, Google, and CSS programming, she created Dr. Schmid's website and regularly keeps it updated.

Outside of volunteering, Josephine likes working in well-resourced fast-paced hospital units, participating in bedside patient care, working with the vulnerable population in the community, advocating for patients, keeping up with the latest public health initiatives, and taking post-graduate nursing courses to keep her knowledge updated. Hobby-wise, she enjoys singing, playing piano, listening to music, reading, keeping up with current events, traveling, cooking up a storm, hiking, going to the gym, spending time with friends and family, trying out new restaurants and events in the city, cuddling with her cat, and relaxing until her next set of shifts.

Email: jxie344@uwo.ca
Third Year Undergraduate

Julia is a third-year undergraduate honours specialization in physiology and pharmacology student at Western University. She is assisting Ella in investigating the effects of an enriched environment on symptom development in the Cntnap2 knockout rat model for autism spectrum disorder. She started off working in the Schmid lab as a volunteer research assistant and then proceeded to assist Ella in this current project as a NSERC USRA summer research student.

Outside the lab, she enjoys reading, swimming, skiing, travelling, and exploring new restaurants with friends.