Ilana Vasilisa is a Neuroscience PhD Candidate at Einstein. Her work focuses on understanding the nature and mechanisms underlying ANKS1B Haploinsufficiency Syndrome, a rare disorder. To study it, she aims to apply a fully translational approach by using methodologies including transgenic mouse models, patient-derived stem cells, and human data for neuroimaging analysis. Her project is co-mentored by Dr. Sophie Molholm and Dr. Bryen Jordan.
Ilana received a B.A. in Biology with a concentration in Behavioral Neurobiology from Hunter College, City University of New York and an M.S. in Neuroscience from the Graduate Division of Biomedical Science from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading, playing video games, traveling, working out, creating art, and employing the scientific method towards learning how to cook. Vasilisa is behind all the beautiful social media graphics for the podcast!
“Science has its favourite model organisms, but hyper-focusing on one model can make it too easy to miss the forest for the trees. No model or method on its own is perfect in helping us answer questions about the human brain. Thinking of scientific questions in a more translational and interdisciplinary way can help overcome these limitations by filling those gaps.”
-Ilana Vasilisa Deyneko
