Elizabeth Doncheck, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Beth received her bachelor degrees from University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in 2012, and her doctoral degree at Marquette University in 2019. While living in the Milwaukee area, Beth worked in outstanding labs that focus on the neurobiology of drug addiction, including the labs of Drs. Devin Mueller, Cecilia Hillard, John Mantsch, and others. Her work focuses on the influence of circulating hormones and sex differences on addiction behavior, and in the Otis lab she hopes to extend her work to understanding how these hormones function at the level of neural circuits to influence behaviors such as drug seeking.

Outside of lab, Beth enjoys chilling with her pup Vebo, traveling, and hanging with her friends.

Jackie Paniccia, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Jackie received her bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University in 2014, and her doctoral degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2021. While at UNC, Jackie worked in the laboratory of Dr. Don Lysle examining the neural immune mechanisms underlying different heroin-conditioned Pavlovian responses. While in the Otis lab, she aims to investigate how astrocyte-neuron interactions and glial cell activity modulates drug-taking and drug-seeking behaviors. 

Outside of the lab Jackie enjoys live music, cooking, and spending time with her friends and family. 

Rachel Clarke, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Growing up in Australia, Rachel completed her undergraduate studies (2012-2015) and doctoral degree (2016-2020) at Monash University close to Melbourne, Victoria. Her Ph.D. project was supervised by Professor Zane Andrews and investigated cortical to hypothalamic circuits implicated in feeding and reward seeking behavior. In the Otis lab, Rachel aims to utilize two-photon imaging to examine neuronal activity and dendritic spine dynamics underlying drug seeking behavior. 

Outside of the lab, Rachel enjoys swimming, reading, and exploring Charleston. 

Amy Ward

PHD STUDENT

Amy received her bachelor’s degree from Washington & Lee University in 2021, majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in German. There, she worked with Dr. Fiona Watson and researched pesticide-induced neuronal degeneration in frogs. She is currently co-mentored with Dr. Jennifer Rinker and is interested in dissecting the neural circuitry underlying alcohol use disorders.

Outside of the lab, she enjoys spending time with friends, fishing, and hanging out with her pet gecko, Margot

Logan Manusky

PHD STUDENT

Logan graduated from the College of Charleston in 2017 with her B.S. in Biology and a minor in Neuroscience. She has been working at MUSC since 2019 in Howard Becker’s lab, who is the director of the Charleston Alcohol Research Center. Logan’s previous research has focused on the comorbidity between alcohol use disorder and PTSD, specifically stress-induced reinstatement and the role that exercise plays on the intersection between stress and alcohol use. She has also worked as a research technician with the Veterans Health Administration. Logan is currently a Ph.D student at the Medical University of South Carolina in the Otis lab.

Outside of lab, Logan enjoys playing volleyball, painting, cooking, and enjoying time with her family/friends!

Annaka Westphal

PHD STUDENT

Annaka is a current graduate student who is co-mentored by Drs. Michael Scofield and Jim Otis. Originally hailing from the Land of Enchantment, she completed her undergraduate work at The University of New Mexico in 2020 with a B.S. in Biology. Following graduation, she moved to Charleston where she worked as a research technician at The Medical University of South Carolina during Covid. She is interested in the neurobiology of addiction and the relationship between science and public policy from the perspective of substance use disorder treatment. 

Outside of the lab, Annaka enjoys spending time with her family, watching Formula 1, and playing games.

Anna Tsyrulnikov

phd student

Anna is originally from Chicago and got her bachelors in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she began her research in the field of substance use research. Previously, her research focused on the neuroimmune effects of repeated methamphetamine exposure. Anna is currently co-mentored with Dr. Alexander Smith and is interested in combining light sheet microscopy with 2-photon imaging to identify circuitry involved in the therapeutic effect of psychedelics.

In her free time, Anna enjoys rock climbing, pottery, and baking.

Mike Martino

MD/PHD STUDENT

Originally from Western New York, Mike completed his undergraduate degree at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville (SIUE) in 2016. He then completed his master’s degree in kinesiology in 2018 while conducting research investigating liver amino acid metabolism at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. Mike was accepted to the MD/PhD program at MUSC in 2020 and is currently investigating how a stressful experience increases susceptibility to future stressors. His training will prepare him for a career as a Physician-Scientist in Psychiatry.

When outside of the lab, Mike enjoys running, powerlifting, and spending time with his family and friends.

Marcus Bell

MD/PhD Student

Marcus received a B.S. in biochemistry with a minor in cellular and molecular neuroscience from the University of Minnesota where he researched lipids, senescence, and metabolic dysfunction. He is an MD/PhD student in the Otis lab interested in the neural underpinnings of addiction and developing accessible therapies for substance use disorder.

Lisa Green

Research specialist and Electrophysiologist

Lisa graduated from Western Carolina University in 2017 with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Psychology. Following graduation, she worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator in Charleston for 2 years working on Phase I-III trials. Lisa did her Master’s Thesis in the Otis Lab, graduating from the Medical University of South Carolina in 2022.

Outside of the lab, Lisa enjoys traveling, spending time with her pets, and playing boardgames with her family and friends.

Joshua Boquiren

DATA ANALYST AND PROGRAMMER

Born and raised in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, Josh studied Computer Information Systems and Data Science at the College of Charleston with an interest in machine learning and computational neuroscience. He joined the lab in 2022 as an undergraduate volunteer before transitioning to a full-time position as a data analyst.

When the time allows, Josh enjoys travelling, trying new foods, and keeping an active lifestyle with weight training and hiking.

Bayleigh Pagoota

Research Specialist and behavior specialist

Bayleigh received her bachelor’s degree in Biology with a minor in Neuroscience from the College of Charleston in 2023. Following graduation, she began working as a research technician in the Otis Lab. Her research interests include psychopharmacology, addiction neuroscience, and the comorbidities of SUDs with psychiatric illness.

Outside of the lab, Bayleigh enjoys going to the beach, travelling, and spending time with her friends and family.

Jade Baek

Research Specialist

Jade graduated from the College of Wooster with a B.A. in Neuroscience. Following graduation, Jade joined the Otis lab where she focuses on mouse behavior experiments, imaging analysis, and 3D modeling.

Outside of the lab, Jade enjoys meeting people, walking outdoors, and doing artsy stuff.

Bogdan Bordieanu

Research Specialist and lab manager

Bogdan graduated with a degree in Biology from the University of Texas at Dallas. He has previously worked in the Mishra lab at UT Southwestern studying mitochondrial diseases by investigating the interplay between mitochondrial behavior and cellular metabolism. Before joining the Otis lab, he was part of the McGinty lab where he was involved in studies investigating adaptations in specific medial prefrontal cortex neuron populations projecting to the nucleus accumbens during heroin abstinence and cued-relapse. Bogdan is planning on pursuing a PhD in computational biology.

Outside of lab, Bogdan enjoys playing soccer, being a fan of the Dallas Mavericks, and pet-sitting his friends’ dogs.