Meet the Team
Katalin Gothard, M.D./Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
kgothard@arizona.eduDownload CV
After medical school and postgraduate training in neurosurgery in Romania, Kati obtained her Ph.D. in Neuroscience in the laboratory of Bruce McNaughton (University of Arizona). She continued with a postdoc at UC Davis at the National Primate Research Center in the laboratory of David Amaral. In 2002, she returned to Tucson to establish her research lab at the College of Medicine. Her lab has pioneered neurophysiological studies of the amygdala in the context of naturalistic social and affective behaviors.
Kati loves classical music, jazz, flamenco, and geology. While her love for music and dance comes from formal training in classical ballet in Romania and flamenco in San Francisco, she is only an amateur in geology. Nevertheless, she is happily hammering at rocks in the spectacular rocky landscapes of Arizona.
Alexis Coryicroft
Laboratory Coordinator
alexisann@arizona.eduAlexis graduated from the University of Arizona in 2019 with a B.S. in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, with a focus in Language and Communication Sciences. She returned to academia and research in 2022 by joining the Gothard lab to study animal behavior and its neurophysiological correlates. She is passionate about fostering the next generation of scientists and works closely with the lab's undergraduates.
With an ever-changing rainbow of hair colors, she spends her time outside of the lab watching true crime shows, playing indie video games, and giving all her spare attention to her wife and cats.
Alyssa Camp
Research Technician II
alyssacamp@arizona.eduAlyssa graduated from Auburn University in 2022 with a BS in Organismal Biology. Before joining the lab, she was a dog groomer for many years, and was delighted to find that many of the skills she developed working with dogs transferred to working with monkeys! Her interests lie in animal behavior, and her favorite part of the job is training the monkeys - particularly to hold hands!
In her spare time, Alyssa enjoys being a homebody with her partner and pets. She spends most of her time playing video games, reading, baking, and trying her hand at various crafty things.
Michael Cardenas
Doctoral Student - Neuroscience
mikecard9000@arizona.eduMichael completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Arizona while working in the Gothard lab. In 2020, he started as a graduate student in the Graduate Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Neuroscience and launched a study on autonomic control and social decision making.
Outside of work, you can find Michael kicking back with a few video games, completing little projects around his house or more likely, sampling the current offerings of the craft brew scene in Tucson. Michael also loves hiking, (good) food, and his extremely high energy dog, Chloe.
Megan Krause
Doctoral Student - Neuroscience
mkrause@arizona.eduMegan is a PhD student in the Graduate Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Neuroscience. She graduated in 2024 from the University of Notre Dame with a B.S. in Neuroscience and Behavior. Megan just joined the lab in March of 2025 so she is still deciding what to focus on (there are too many amazing projects to choose from!), but she is excited to be doing neurophysiology work in the lab and looks forward to settling on a project.
Outside of the lab, Megan is getting to know Tucson by hiking with friends. She enjoys doing puzzles, sitting down with a good book, and trying to convince her twin sister to move to Tucson.
Mahir Kabir
Research Assistant
mahirk@arizona.eduMahir graduated from the University of Arizona in 2025 with a B.S. In Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, B.A. in Computer Science, and Minors in Statistics & Data Science and Biochemistry. Throughout his undergrad career, Mahir was part of the Fuglevand Lab, where he worked on multiple projects focusing on how movement is planned and executed in the premotor cortex. He joined the Gothard Lab after graduating in the summer of 2025, to experience research on larger animal models. He is currently contributing to the Hierarchy project.
Mahir's goal is to apply for the U of A's MD-PhD program.
Mackenzie Lynch
Undegraduate Research Assistant - NSCS
mhlynch@arizona.eduMackenzie is a senior majoring in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science with a minor in sociology. She joined the lab in May 2024, and has become lead undergrad on the hierarchy project. Mackenzie was accepted into UBRP to continue her work in the lab over summer 2025.
After graduation, Mackenzie plans to take a year and spend more time with the lab in order to learn electrophysiology and hang out with her monkey friends. She then wants to attend graduate school and study social behavior and its neural correlates.
Amanda Feng
Undergraduate Research Assistant - NSCS
amandafeng@arizona.eduAmanda is a senior majoring in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science with minors in Chinese and Criminology. She joined the Gothard Lab in May of 2024. Through the Gothard lab, she hopes to gain knowledge about decision-making and understanding MRI scans which led to her involvement in the Adolescent Project. After graduation, she hopes to attend graduate school abroad to continue studying neuroscience.
Mihir Shah
Undergraduate Research Assistant - NSCS
mihirshah24@arizona.eduMihir is an undergraduate student majoring in Neuroscience and Cognitive Sciences with a minor in Spanish and Emergency Medical Services. He joined the Gothard Lab in Summer 2024 due to his interest in neurobiology and social development along with neurological conditions based on it. He plans on continuing his education by going to medical school.
Amelia Goodwin
Undergraduate Research Assistant - Physiology
ameliagoodwin@arizona.eduAmelia is a junior majoring in physiology and medical sciences with minors in biochemistry and Spanish. She joined the lab in September 2024, primarily working on the Hierarchy project where she creates stimuli to analyze social behavior. After graduation, she plans on attending medical school to pursue global opportunities like Doctors Without Borders.
Outside of the lab, Amelia enjoys skiing, reading, and drinking matcha.
Venkat Machavarapu
Undergraduate Research Assistant - Medicine
vmach000@arizona.eduVenkat is a sophomore majoring in medicine. He joined the Gothard lab in October 2024 due to his interest in neurobiology and surgery. He is primarily working on the Interoception project. After graduation, he plans on attending medical school in hopes of being a surgeon.
AJ Tracy
Undergraduate Research Assistant - EEB
ajt311@arizona.eduAJ is a sophomore double majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Animal Sciences while participating in the Franke Civic Leadership Certificate. They joined the lab in January 2025, eager to learn more about animal behavior. They joined the Adolescent Project to study the development of social behavior, learning, and memory. After graduation, they hope to pursue a dual DVM/PhD combining medicine and conservation.
Outside of school, AJ enjoys reading, building Legos, running long distances, and hanging out with their cats named after Harry Potter characters and famous scientists. They are the founder of Franke Lavender Scholars, a club studying queer culture and history.
Grace Wilford
Undergraduate Research Assistant - Veterinary Science
gjwilfor@arizona.eduGrace is a sophomore majoring in veterinary sciences who joined the Gothard lab in Spring 2025. Her interest in research was inspired by the desire to gain hands-on animal experience and expand her knowledge of animal behavior. After graduation she plans on applying to veterinary school to become a livestock and wildlife veterinarian.
Outside of the lab, Grace enjoys traveling to hike with scenic views, camping, and gardening. She volunteers at the U of A Campus farm on the weekends!
Max Bell
Undergraduate Research Assistant - NSCS
mbell4@arizona.eduMax is a sophomore in the U of A Honors college, majoring in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, with minors in Biochemistry and Music. Max joined the Gothard Lab in Fall 2025 to better understand neurobiology and how our environment can impact behavior. He is currently on a pre-med path with goals of pursuing either anesthesiology or neurosurgery.
Max is an active volunteer at Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Collaborators
Alumni
Post-Doctorates
Haiyin Chen
Kristof Laszlo
James Drew Solyst
Sebastien Ballesta
Anne Martin
Graduates
Kevin Spitler
Kelly Brooks
Christopher Laine
Clayton Mosher
Philip Putnam
JJ Morrow
Blake Seaton
Rose Andersen
Tess Champ
Seunghyun Lee
Archer Bowrie
Lab Managers
Derek O'Neill
Research Technicians
Emily Franklin
Kennya Garcia
Prisca Zimmerman
Lizzie Hillier
Undergraduates
Kaitlin Bianchi
Farid Ghamsari
Daniel Carrera
Cole Hoffer
Travis Wilder
Christine Tang
Alisa Ryan
Kevin Wood
Michelle Mangana-Mendoza
Deke Cisco
Dan Hill
Robert Gibboni
JohnMichael Jurgensen
Matt Stib
Kevan Farshad
Miranda Anderson
Jeremy Oulton
Natalie Brill
Susma Ghimire
Gabby Lacy
Lorenzo Chavez
Jorge Arturo Bradic
Angela Tulk
Haley Moore
Keturah Ragland
Savannah Threatt
Berna Dennis
Natalia Magnusson
Tanusri Ganapathy
Cam Bolles
Nick Lingenfelter
Chan Lim
Sun Woo Kim
Nathalie Sotelo
Eli Rahamim
Anna Park
Ryan Le
Gabriel Neal
Gabriella Ames
Olivia Baumann
Alijah Howard
Ava Pal
Alison Yaw
Jesse Katz
