Lab Members
Kayla Maanum
MD/PhD Student
✉ maanum AT ohsu DOT edu
Kayla joined the Mao lab in May 2023. She received her B.A. in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied the development of a population of motion-sensitive neurons in the mouse retina. Later as a research assistant at UCSF, she studied an opioid-sensitive habenula circuit in rat models of chronic pain. In the Mao lab, Kayla plans to investigate behaviorally relevant neural circuits in the mouse insular cortex using ex vivo slice electrophysiology and in vivo cellular imaging. In her leisure time, Kayla loves scoping out the best latte in Portland and exploring the beautiful PNW.
Landon Bayless-Edwards
MD/PhD Student
✉ baylesse AT ohsu DOT edu
Landon joined the Mao lab in May 2021. She received her B.S. in Biology from Warren Wilson College and an M.S. in Biology from Idaho State University. There, she studied the effect of disease mutations on gating of the skeletal muscle voltage-gated sodium channel, hNAV1.4. For her graduate work, Landon plans to explore the role of opioids in modulation of striatal inputs in vivo. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, hiking, and spending time with her growing family.
Yang Chen, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
✉ chenyan AT ohsu DOT edu
Yang joined the Mao lab in 2018 as an NGP graduate student. She earned her B.A. in Biological Chemistry from Grinnell College, where she studied the effect of homocysteine on neurotransmission in the mouse neuromuscular junction. For her graduate work, Yang explored subregional inhibitory circuits in the striatum using laser scanning photostimulation combined with electrophysiology, earning her PhD in May 2025. Outside of the lab, Yang enjoys music, travelling and developing cooking recipes.
Bart Jongbloets, PhD
Visiting Scientist / Assistant Professor, University of Amsterdam
✉ b.c.jongbloets AT uva DOT nl
Bart joined the Mao lab in summer 2015 as a postdoctoral fellow. He earned his Ph.D. at the Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Translational Neuroscience, in Utrecht, the Netherlands. During his graduate studies he identified novel roles for Semaphorin 7A, an axon guidance protein, in the adult brain. By combining his expertise in biochemistry and genetics with electrophysiology, optogenetics and 2-photon imaging, Bart investigated the heterogeneity of functional circuitry in the striatum and insular cortex. Outside the lab, Bart enjoys testing new cooking protocols and kitesurfing in the wind and waves off the Oregon coast.
Michael Muniak, PhD
Assistant Staff Scientist
✉ muniak AT ohsu DOT edu
Michael joined the Mao lab at the start of 2019 as an assistant staff scientist. He was raised in the hinterlands of northern Michigan before spending ten years in Baltimore, MD, where he earned both his B.A. (2005) and Ph.D. (2011) from Johns Hopkins University under the mentorship of Prof. David Ryugo. He then followed Prof. Ryugo to the antipodes, continuing his research on the structure and function of central auditory pathways as a postdoc at the Garvan Institute in Sydney, Australia. He will now apply his expertise on reconstructing and objectively characterizing neural circuits to the central nervous system. Beyond the bench, Michael maintains an ever-expanding record collection that stretches common definitions of music, supports the experimental arts community, frequently cedes household territory to his cats, and enjoys exploring the great outdoors with his partner.
Maozhen Qin
Senior Research Assistant / Lab Manager
✉ qinm AT ohsu DOT edu
Maozhen obtained a bachelor's degree in nursing in China and has been working as a research assistant since 2008. She joined the Mao lab in 2011 where she quickly became the "go-to" person for genotyping, culturing slices, performing animal surgeries, and maintaining the inventory of lab supplies. Outside of work, Maozhen enjoys camping and hiking.
James Jones
Postdoctoral Fellow
✉ jonejame AT ohsu DOT edu
James joined the Mao lab in March 2024 as a postdoctoral researcher. In 2019, he earned his B.S. in Physiology and Neuroscience at the University of California in San Diego. In 2023, he earned his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Texas in San Antonio, where he worked with Dr. Charles Wilson to study how neurons in the basal ganglia communicate via inhibitory synapses. In the Mao lab, he plans to continue studying the basal ganglia, but shift his focus to their integration of synaptic excitation from the thalamus and cortex, while also studying the subcellular signaling cascades engaged by neuromodulator release in these same circuits.
Sophia Mar
Graduate Student
✉ marso AT ohsu DOT edu
Sophia graduated from the University of Washington Seattle in Spring '22 with a B.S. in Biochemistry with Honors. Continuing as a staff scientist in her undergraduate lab set her on the path to her current chapter in the Behavioral & Systems Neuroscience graduate program at OHSU.
Lab Alumni
Ian Gingerich | 2020-2025 | Research Assistant II / Visiting Scientist — Graduate Student / Dartmouth College
Priscilla Ambrosi | 2023-2024 | Postdoc — Postdoc / OHSU
Evan Wilson | 2021-2023 | Research Assistant II — Territory Manager / Eppendorf
Julian Day-Cooney | 2021-2023 | Postdoc — Lecturer / Victoria University of Wellington
Amelia Culp | 2020-2022 | Master’s Student — Data Scientist
Haleigh Schwartz | 2021-2022 | Research Assistant II — Physician Assistant Student
Danny Schwartz | 2021-2022 | Research Assistant II — Medical Student / University of Arizona
Crystian Massengill | 2018-2021 | Senior Research Assistant — Graduate Student / Harvard Neuroscience
Tess Lameyer | 2017-2019 | Research Assistant II — Software Developer
Josh Brendan Melander | 2014-2017 | Reseach Assistant II — Graduate Student / Stanford Neuroscience
Barbara Jeannie Hunnicutt | 2011–2015 | Graduate Student — Data Scientist
Nicole Vollum | 2013 | Summer Student — Master’s Student / Munich Center for Technology in Society / Technical University of Munich
Jian Qiu | 2012-2013 | Postdoc — Research Assistant Professor / Chemical Physiology & Biochemistry / OHSU
Brian Long | 2010-2013 | Postdoc — Scientist II / Allen Institute for Brain Science / Seattle
Deniz Kusefoglu | 2010-2012 | Master’s Student — Software Engineer / InfluxData / San Francisco
Jessica Li | 2011 | Summer Student — Biomedical Engineer/LIMS Developer / Foundation Medicine / Cambridge MA