Congratulations to Taylor Powell on receiving the prestigious Matthew Pecot Fellowship from the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience. Named in honor of neuroscientist Matthew Pecot, this fellowship supports promising undergraduate researchers pursuing neuroscience research. We are incredibly proud of Taylor for this well-deserved achievement!

Spring has come—and so has graduation season!
Congratulations to our undergraduate researchers! ‍

‍

We’re excited to celebrate our undergraduate researchers Ethel, Ren and Amarachi who are graduating this year! We’re proud of all they’ve accomplished in the lab and wish them the very best in their next steps. Congratulations on this milestone!

Eight physicists walk into a bar—this time to celebrate the end of the year.
A great evening with an inspiring group of female physics colleagues, full of conversation, laughter, and a reminder of how strong our community is.

Amarachi and Ren presented their work at the Undergraduate Research Festival—
great job representing the lab!
Ren also shared her work at the Dean’s Advisory Board Dinner. Cool!
The whole lab took part in Neuroscience Research Day, where Dev gave a talk and everyone presented their projects.
We also got to hear some really exciting talks throughout the day, starting with a fantastic keynote by Karla Kaun.
‍(No photos to share—we were all in presentation mode!)

Celebrating science and a successful APS “Physics of Neural Systems” session!

Mirna's lab Mentoring Beckman Scholars: Supporting the Next Generation of Undergraduate Scientists. We are excited to share that Syracuse University has been selected as a 2026 Beckman Scholars Program awardee—one of just 14 institutions nationwide to receive this distinction—and I am honored to serve as one of the Beckman Faculty Mentors. Through this program, undergraduate researchers in the Skanata Lab will have the opportunity to receive fellowships to pursue in-depth projects at the interface of physics, neuroscience, and behavior, gaining sustained hands-on research experience and advanced interdisciplinary training. https://news.syr.edu/2026/01/29/prestigious-award-supports-undergraduate-research-in-chemistry-and-life-sciences/

‍

Graduate student Dev Goonawardhana and postodoctoral researcher Silverio Johnson presented their research at the BioInspired Annual Symposium. We’re especially proud to share that Silverio received a Poster Award—congratulations, Silverio!

Congratulations to Yiming on his defense, highlighted by our department’s traditional pole-climbing ceremony. This marks an important achievement, and we look forward to seeing the exciting next steps in his career!

Mirna had an amazing time at the 2025 Soft Matter Gordon Research Conference, presenting our work and learning more about 'Squishy, Living, and Adaptive Matter'!

Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH, from August 10-16, 2025.

We just wrapped up the 4thAnnual Physics High School Summer Program! We had an amazing 6 weeks hosting SCSD student interns in our lab. Huge congratulations to Maria and Rae for the incredible work you did this summer! A heartfelt thank you to our returning student and peer-mentor Jaime and to Derick, Seongjin, Ibbi, Salome, Silverio, and Gil —  for your support and invaluable contributions in making this year’s program a success. Here’s to another year of science, teamwork, and inspiration!

‍

We are excited to announce that Dr. Silverio Johnson has joined the Skanata Lab as a postdoctoral researcher. Silverio earned his Ph.D. at Brown University, where he studied bacterial motility in Dr. Jay Tang’s lab. We’re excited to see how his expertise will enrich our ongoing efforts to understand neural computation and behavior in Drosophila larvae. Welcome!

‍

Liliana was honored as a McKnight-Pecot Fellow at this year’s annual meeting in Aspen, where she presented her research during the poster session.

We are delighted to welcome Dev Goonawardhana as an incoming graduate student in the Skanata Lab! Dev will be studying mechanosensation in Drosophila larvae, contributing to our broader efforts to understand how sensory inputs shape neural computations and behavior. We are excited to have Dev join our team and look forward to her discoveries!

‍

Emma received an Academic and Research Achievement Award! Congratulations! Today is Emma's last day in the lab -- we will miss you!

Syracuse City School District visit day!  200 students came to visit our labs in the Physics Department! Thank you to Derick and Seongjin for leading lab tours!

A heartfelt thank you to Emma, Kate, Riley, Liliana, and Daniella for all the hard work, curiosity, and enthusiasm you've brought to the lab. It has been a true joy to watch you grow—mastering new techniques, diving into scientific inquiry, and supporting one another along the way. While it’s bittersweet to see you go, we’re excited to see where your paths lead next. Wishing you all the best as you soar into your next chapter!

Liliana presented a poster at the 11th Neuroscience Research Day!

‍

COSYNE rocks! Mirna and Seongjin attended Computational and Systems Neuroscience conference, that covered neural basis of behavior, sensory and motor systems, circuitry, learning, neural coding, natural scene statistics, dendritic computation, ....

We had an amazing time at the 2025 APS Global Summit in California! It was wonderful reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones. A huge thank you to our invited speakers, Ben de Bivort, Matthieu Louis, and Eva Naumann, for sharing their research at the Physics of Neural Systems sessions. Congratulations to Derick and Yiming for doing an outstanding job representing our Lab!

‍

‍

We had the pleasure of welcoming an incredible group of physicists to Syracuse University for the APS Conference for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (CU*iP). A big thank you to everyone who made this event possible!

Mirna had an amazing time presenting our research at the beautifully decorated Biological Physics Seminar at Princeton University. A special thanks to Andrej Košmrlj for the fantastic campus tour!

‍

Our lab presented at the 130th Topical Symposium of the New York State Section of the APS 'Advances in Computational Physics and the Physics of Computation'

Mirna is hosting Physics Department colloquium speaker, Dr. Chris Xu, IBM Chair Professor of Engineering at Cornell University. Dr. Xu’s colloquium will focus on advancements in multiphoton microscopy, a vital tool for high-resolution, non-invasive imaging deep within living tissues.

We presented our research at the BioInspired Institute Annual Symposyum!

Mirna is visiting the Klein Lab at University of Miami. Mirna was delighted to be a member of committee at Oshani’s oral examination where she did a wonderful job presenting her work. Congrats on passing your exam, Oshani! During the Physics Department Colloquium, Mirna will share our lab's latest research on behavioral variability and
two-photon imaging technology.

Liliana Germain, our undergraduate labmate, is attending the SfN Meeting in Chicago. She had a successful week learning more about the field of  Neuroeconomics and exploring her next steps by meeting with graduate program directors.

We are pleased to announce the successful conclusion of the 3rd annual Physics High School Summer Program. We had an amazing 6 weeks hosting SCSD student interns for the first time at the Lab. Congratulations to Abdi, Lucy, and Jamie for accomplishing so much in such a short time! Your dedication, hard work, and creativity are truly inspiring. A big thank you to Derick, Emma, Seongjin, and Gil for their invaluable contributions in making this program a success.

Liliana Germain, who is double majoring in Neuroscience and Psychology, has been awarded the prestigious 2024 McKnight Matthew Pecot Fellowship to support her research in our lab. Congratulations to Liliana!

Mirna is at the McKnight Conference in Aspen, CO, immersed in cutting-edge science talks, admiring the wonders of nature, and doing a technology demo.

Great news! Emma Snook has been awarded the Biology Department Summer & Fall Research Fellowship. Well done, Emma!

Mirna is honored with the Physics Department Social Justice Award!

Katherine Monroe, Emma Snook, Liliana Germain presented a research poster at the Undergraduate Research Festival.

We had a great time at the 10^th Neuroscience research day: “From molecules to minds”. We enjoyed learning more about Eve DeRosa’s, David Redish’s and Gabrielle Sterne’s research. Yiming and Liliana presented their research on Behavioral variability of Drosophila larva under uni-and multi-sensory stimulation, while Derick, Emma and Kate presented on Navigation of Drosophila larvae in taste gradients.

Thrilled that the 2^nd Upstate NY Soft and Biological Matter Workshop that we organized at Syracuse University, was a success. We had a great time chatting and catching up with Soft and Live Matter Scientists.

Mirna organized a New Career Development Seminar Series: “All You Can Be with Your Degree”, which provided SU students an opportunity to learn about various careers they can pursue (Spring Semester, 2024).

Wonderful news! Katherine Monroe and Emma Snook received Syracuse University Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SOURCE) that will support their research in our lab in the Spring semester of 2024.

Yiming Xu and Mirna are attending “Fly meeting” (officially the Neurobiology of Drosophila) at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY. It was nice to catch up with the community, in person. Yiming did a wonderful job in presenting his research poster!  

Exciting news - Mirna's new microscopy lab space is all set up and good to go at the Life Science Complex, right near our BioInspired colleagues on campus. Awesome!

The number of graduate students in Mirna’s Lab has doubled.
Welcome, Derick Ramos!

Mirna is awarded NIH MIRA (Maximizing Investigators' Research Award)
to support her research on understanding computations in
a simple brain of Drosophila larva.

Mirna is having a wonderful time at the McKnight Foundation Conference, in Aspen, CO!

Many thanks to the Physics Department for the Teaching Award!

Sonia Julius, Emma Snook and Katherine Monroe, did an awesome job presenting their research poster at the Undergraduate Research Festival.

We had fun at the 9th Neuroscience Research Day. We hosted Dora Angelaki and learne about multisensory integration in monkeys. Yiming Xu presented a poster!

‍

In the news! Syracuse University News features bioimaging research and the Blatt BioImaging Center: Peek Into the Hidden World Inside of Cells.
(Left to right Profs: Mirna Skanata, Heidi Henley and Jenny Ross)

A big shoutout to Yiming Xu for representing the Lab at the APS March meeting in Minneapolis (MN). Congratulations, Yiming, on a fantastic job presenting your work!

Excellent news! Dr. Seongjin Park is joining our lab as Research Assistant Professor. Dr. Park is an expert in super-resolution microscopy techniques based on single-molecule methods. He completed his Ph.D. at UIUC and his postdoctoral studies at the Univ. of Chicago. He worked in Illumina where he developed a microfluidics instrument for inspecting Patterned FlowCells under stress. Welcome, Seongjin!

Emma Snook and Sonia Julius are awarded the SOURCE (Syracuse University Undergraduate Research) Fellowship to pursue research in our lab during Spring and Summer of 2023. Welcome!

Mirna has been honored as one of three recipients selected nationally for the 2022 McKnight Technological Innovation in Neuroscience Award! This award aims to support her research in advancing two-photon microscopy technology for recording neural activity in the brains of freely moving fruit fly larvae (McKnightFoundation feature).

Chloe Britton Naime and Katherine Monroe received the SOURCE (Syracuse University Undergraduate Research) Fellowship to pursue research in Mirna’s lab during Summer and the Fall of 2022. Welcome!

Graduate student, Yiming Xu, is awarded a Summer Pre-Dissertation Scholarship to support his research in NeuroBioPhysics. Congratulations, Yiming!

Mirna presented (in person!) at the 8^th Neuroscience Research Day and met the neuroscience community here at SU. Good times!

Mirna joined the Physics Department and BioInspired Institute. Syracuse University News warmly welcomed new faculty by featuring them in these articles: New Faculty Spotlight and Leading Thinkers: New Faculty Join College of Arts and Sciences. Thank you, SU!