Lab Members
Kei Igarashi, PhD
Chancellor's Fellow Associate Professor, UC Irvine
Kei grew up in greater Tokyo and obtained his Ph.D in the Kensaku Mori lab at University of Tokyo. He then moved all the way to Trondheim, Norway to join the laboratory of Edvard and May-Britt Moser. There, he experienced a vibrant and exciting new era of memory research, concurrent with the awarding of Edvard and May-Britt’s Nobel Prizes. Kei moved again all the way to California to start his lab in 2016.
Enthusiast in Nordic skiing (Langrenn & Telemark)
Yutian Zhang
PhD Student
Yutian grew up in Yunnan, China. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in neurobiology and psychology in 2021 from UC Davis and worked as a research assistant in Dr. Masashi Tabuchi’s lab at Case Western Reserve University. Yutian joined the Igarashi lab in April 2023. Outside of research, she enjoys exploring nature and music.
Akiko Ide, PhD
Postdoc
During PhD, Akiko investigated olfaction at Kyoto University with Prof. Itaru Imayoshi
Yifan Zeng, PhD
Postdoc
Yifan took PhD in Shanghai Tech in 2025.
Waka Hisamura, MD
PhD Student
JASSO PhD Fellowship
Waka grew up in Fukuoka, Japan. She obtained her MD degree in 2024 from Tokyo Jikei School of Medicine.
Waka joined the Igarashi lab as a direct-admit PhD student in Sep 2024.
Undergraduate Students:
Taeru Sano-Lim
Yen Hang
Samantha Wilder
Mingyi Ma
PhD Student
Mingyi joined the lab in 2026
BS, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Hina Tamaki
PhD Student
Hina joined the lab in 2026
BS, Vanderbilt University
Annabelle Dressler
PhD Student
Annabelle joined the lab in 2026
BS, UCI
Lab Alumni
Shogo Soma, Ph.D
Postdoc 2018 – 2019
Now Assistant Professor at Kyoto Medical College, Japan
Tatsuki Nakagawa, PhD
Postdoc (currently Assistant Professor at Tohoku University)
Heechul Jun, MD, Ph.D
MD-PhD student 2017 - 2022
MD student researcher 2022 - 2024
From: Undergrad student, Hongjun Song lab at JHU
Now: Research-track psychiatry resident at Gyorgy Buzsaki lab, NYU
Jason Y Lee, Ph.D
INP PhD student 2018 - 2024
From: Undergrad student, Dean Buonomano lab at UCLA
Now: Karel Svoboda lab, Allen Institute for Neural Dyamics
Allen Bramian
Research Technician 2020 - 2022
Undergraduate Student 2018 - 2020
Now MD student at SUNY Stony Brook
Jasmine Chavez
Undergraduate Student 2019 - 2021
Now graduate student in UCI INP program
Yasmeen Medhat
Research Technician 2023 - 2024
From: Undergraduate Student, MCB, UC Berkeley
Now: MD student at UCSF
Sharon Lim, Ph.D
Postdoc, 2020 - 2023
Now: postdoc at UCI
Ananya Dasgupta, Ph.D
Postdoc 2018 – 2019
Now back in India
Karolyn Tran
Undergraduate Student 2018 – 2019
Seiya Bamba
Undergraduate Student 2018
Now MD student at Kyoto University
Sunwoo Oh
Undergraduate Student 2018
Now PhD student in UCI CMB program
Ayushi Patel
Undergraduate Student 2016 – 2018
Now MD student at University of South Florida
Travis Lam
Undergraduate Student 2016 – 2018
Now MD student at Creighton University
Rodrigo Romo
Research Technician 2020 - 2021
Now in the Clinical Lab Scientist Training Program at CSULA/USC
Sandra Yungblut
Research Technician 2020 - 2021
Kaori Shiraiwa
Research Technician 2019 - 2021
Tomoko Viaclovsky
Research Technician 2017 - 2021
Yuma Kato
Intern Graduate student from the University of Tokyo
Nicholas Bleza
Research Technician 2022-2023
Tomoaki Nakazono, Ph.D
Postdoc 2016 – 2018
Nakazono et al., Neurosci Res 2018
Nakazono et at., Front Sys Neurosci 2017
Now Assistant Professor at Fukushima Medical College, Japan
Kai Cao
Undergraduate student (currently a lab tech in the Senzai lab)
Leone Manaloto
Undergraduate Student
Jordan Donohue, PhD
Postdoc