Gone, but not forgotten! Our former lab members built the lab’s foundation and contributed greatly to our mission. They are missed!
Eviatar Fields
Postdoctoral fellow
Email: eviatar.fields@mail.mcgill.ca
After working with aging subjects during his undergraduate project at York University, Eviatar became fascinated with the aging brain. He joined the Watt lab in 2017, initially as an MSc uncovering the little-known role of the cerebellum in aging, before fast-tracking to a PhD. His PhD thesis is focused on the role of Purkinje cells in age-related motor decline in the hopes of devising new treatments to improve mobility in the elderly. Outside of the lab, Eviatar can be found running, working on his podcast or making YouTube videos!
Postdoctoral fellow
Sophia Leung
Email: sophia.leung@mail.mcgill.ca
Sophia has been studying the pathophysiology of spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6), with specific focuses on the disease progression and selective vulnerability in the cerebellum. She used an array of methods including bioinformatics, electrophysiology and histology to uncover disease features. In her spare time, you’d find her walking her cat (yes) and practicing French. Sophia is now working in the biotech industry in Montreal.
Kim Gruver
PhD Student
Email: kim.gruver@mail.mcgill.ca
Kim moved to Montreal in 2016 to join the Watt Lab after graduating with honours from Cornell University with a B.A. in Psychology. As an undergraduate, Kim got her start in the lab working in learning and memory neuroscience research, though she quickly discovered a deep curiosity for how the cerebellum works. After pursuing this fascinating question as a Ph.D. candidate in the Watt lab, Dr. Gruver is now a staff scientist at the Allen Brain Institute. Outside of the lab, Kim can be found bouldering, weaving, or baking bread.
Anna Cook
Former PhD student
Email: anna.cook3@mail.mcgill.ca
For Anna, an undergraduate research project on cerebellar granule cells developed into an enduring fascination with the mysteries of cerebellar function. After completing her BSc in Biology at Imperial College London, she has followed that fascination around the world and has worked in cerebellar research labs in three continents, including in the Watt lab, where Anna completed her PhD in 2023. Anna is now pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship with Scott Waddell in Oxford.
Chloe Stewart
Former MSc Student
Email: chloe.stewart@mail.mcgill.ca
Chloe completed her undergraduate in biomedical sciences at the University of Ottawa. Chloe first dipped her toes in neuroscience in her first year and has been entranced ever since. She then joined the Watt lab in 2018 as a Masters student, and graduated in the summer of 2021. In her spare time, Chloe enjoys playing video games and dungeons and dragons, and keeping up with pen-pals across the globe.
Daneck Lang-Ouellette
Former PhD Student
Email: daneck.lang-ouellette@mail.mcgill.ca
During his BSc in Biology, Daneck was initiated to research by working at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. He then undertook his MSc in Biochemistry at Université de Moncton, studying gene regulation in small mammals during hibernation. Given his curiosity towards Neuroscience, Daneck moved to Montreal to join the Watt Lab at McGill University in 2015. His PhD thesis focuses on understanding how axonal plasticity is altering healthy cerebellar processing, which he successfully defended in December, 2020. Since then, he has worked in the biotech industry in Montreal.
Sriram Jayabal
Former PhD Student
Email: sriramj@stanford.edu
Sriram joined the lab on the same day that it opened its doors, and was integral in its establishment. Sriram worked on understanding the pathophysiology contributing to SCA6 and identifying therapeutic targets that reverse it. Upon completing his PhD, Sriram moved to Stanford where he is pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship with Jennifer Raymond.
Visou Ady
Former Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: visou.ady@mcgill.ca
Visou joined the Watt lab in 2014 and contributed to several projects in the lab until 2017, when he moved on to greener pastures. Visou is now an officer with MITACS!
Autumn Metzger
Former MSc Student
Email: autumn.metzger@mail.mcgill.ca
Autumn joined the lab in 2014 and completed her MSc in 2016. Her project focused on the postnatal development of firing properties in Purkinje cells.
We have had a number of fantastic Undergraduate students who have contributed to the Watt lab!
Ayesha Pointer (MITACS Globalink)
Alison Aube
Jenny Jiao
Genavieve Maloney
Jatin Ai
Lois Lau
Andy Huang
Michelle Ma (MITACS Globalink)
Hannah Dolin
Kristen Vieira-Lomasney
Alexia Smileski (MITACS Globalink)
Sasha Mcdowell
Carter van Eitrem
Jeanette Hui
Mohini Bhade
Pauline de Vanssay de Blavous
Moushumi Nath
Sabrina Quilez
Alexander Cormier
Sam Keeshan
Amanda Hakala
Sara El Jaouhari
Oliver Russell
Max Rice
Allie Bernstein
Maya Nachman
Megan Kern
Connie Li
Richard Yang
Vivian Li
Neil Recio
Eileen Mcnicholas
Marco Silva Camarena (MITACS Globalink)
Angela Yang
Misha (Manveen) Virdee
Charlotte Rosen
Kevin Liang
Lovisa Ljungberg
Thomas Erwes
Kathleen Sheridan
Alexa McIntyre
Gary (Chengjie) Huang
Gabriel Devlin
Watt Lab 