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The Canetta Laboratory
We are a diverse team of researchers led by Dr. Sarah Canetta who love studying the brain. We value teamwork and working respectfully with one another as we pursue our scientific, professional and educational goals. We also enjoy having fun, both inside and outside of the lab! Scroll down to see a short description of all our team members.
Our Team
Sarah Canetta
Principle Investigator
Sarah Canetta received her PhD from Columbia University in 2010 where she studied molecular mechanisms regulating response to noxious stimuli in peripheral sensory neurons, and how risk factors associated with psychiatric disorders may alter these mechanisms and nociception. She then completed her postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Christoph Kellendonk at Columbia University studying how early life factors, such as maternal infection and immune response, influence brain development and cognitive function later in life. In 2020 she started her own laboratory in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University. Her group studies neural circuitry underlying cognitive and affective behaviors with a particular focus on how experiences and exposures during early life impact the development of brain circuits to influence adult behavior.
Emily Cambre
Pre-doctoral candidate
Emily is a graduate student in the department of Pharmacology. She earned her bachelor's degree in chemistry and minor in psychology at Louisiana State University. There she conducted 2 lines of research; one in the development of novel therapeutic targets for bacterial infection, and the other in the investigation of antipsychotic treatment on behavioral and metabolic differences in adolescent mice. She has combined her interests in the Canetta lab, where she now investigates impacts of early life exposures to antidepressants on reward processing behavior and alternative therapeutic strategies. When not in the lab, Emily enjoys cooking for friends, exploring museums and botanical gardens in New York, and visiting family back home in New Orleans.
Weronika Budek
Pre-doctoral Candidate
Weronika is a graduate student in the Pathobiology and Mechanisms of Disease PhD program. She earned her B.S. and M.S. in physiological science with a minor in global health at UCLA. She began her research journey in Dr. Rome’s lab, where she investigated CCL21-coupled vault nanoparticle injections and their association with reduced tumor volume in an in vivo glioma model. During her Master’s, Roni worked in the labs of Dr. Ed Van Veen and Dr. Stephanie Correa, where she focused on sex differences in neuroendocrinology. Her thesis explored the etiology of tamoxifen-induced hot flashes, investigating evidence for a neurokinin B–independent mechanism underlying tamoxifen-induced thermal dysregulation. She also served as a teaching assistant for cadaver-based anatomy and dissection courses. When not in the lab, Roni enjoys hiking, snowboarding, baking, and exploring all things new.
Yuecheng Shi
Research Assistant
Yuecheng graduated from Oberlin College in May 2023 with a degree in Neuroscience and Biology. At Oberlin, she worked with Dr. Tracie Paine on projects determining whether modulating the activity of PFC neurons in rats affects their timing behavior. She joined the Hen Lab in 2023 as a research assistant and worked with Dr. Gergely Turi on mouse projects related to age-related changes in hippocampal neural population activity and their connection to emotionally salient information encoding. In her free time, Yuecheng enjoys entertaining her cat Linx, going to the movies, and trying new cuisines.
Amanda Anqueira
Pre-doctoral candidate
Amanda Anqueira-Gonzalez, born and raised in Puerto Rico, is a PhD student in the Neurobiology and Behavior program at Columbia University. She did her undergraduate in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras where she studied the impact of alcohol consumption in developing brain genetics using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism. Now, in the Canetta Lab, she aims to understand the role of developmental serotonin in prefrontal circuitry maturation and PFC-dependent behavior. When not in lab, she likes to listen to music and work on arts and crafts.
Katherine Najor
Research Assistant
Katherine is a recent graduate from the University of Michigan where she obtained her B.S. in Neuroscience in May 2024. During her undergraduate career, she completed an honors thesis in Dr. Kent Berridge's lab, where she investigated the role of the stress neurotransmitter corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and whether it generates incentive motivation in the central amygdala following extended access to cocaine in rats. Currently in the Canetta lab, she is exploring parvalbumin activity and cognitive flexibility in the PFC, particularly during the decision making period of an attentional set shifting task. She is also preparing to apply to graduate school this year. In her free time, Katherine enjoys crocheting, visiting movie theaters in New York, and spending time with her cat, Chef.
Kamila Giermakowski Rios
Undergraduate Student and Senior Thesis Participant
Kamila is a third-year undergraduate at Barnard College studying Neuroscience and Behavior from Albuquerque. She began her scientific research in 2022 with Dr. Syed at the University of New Mexico, studying type II neural stem cell expression in fruit flies. During her undergraduate career, she has been involved in Dr. Balsam's lab, where she researched different aspects of reinforcement learning in mice. She also completed a summer internship at the Hogeveen lab at UNM, working on an fMRI-based study of decision-making in adolescents. Currently in the Canetta lab, Kamila is assessing viral knockdown of mu-opioid receptors in the nucleus accumbens and its effects on motivational behavior. Outside of lab, she enjoys drawing, cooking, hiking, and skiing in her home state.
Advika Ramesh
Undergraduate Student and Senior Thesis Participant
Advika is a senior at Barnard College studying Neuroscience and Behavior & Human Rights. Originally from Georgia, she began her research journey through the CDC’s Healthier Together Georgia initiative, where she collected field data on dietary habits in rural communities. She also worked with Dr. Jess Ting at Mount Sinai, where she collaborated with surgical and clinical teams on a retrospective analysis of over 650 gender-affirming procedures, extracting and analyzing data from nine years of electronic medical records to generate actionable insights on surgical efficacy and patient wellbeing. At Columbia, she has contributed to biomedical research in the Canetta Lab, investigating how early-life antidepressant exposure shapes motivation and reward processing. She is also exploring viral strategies for cell-type-specific targeting in D1-Cre mice to support circuit-level manipulations. Outside the lab, Advika has over 1,000 hours of clinical experience as an EMT and emergency department volunteer and enjoys writing, French cinema, philosophy, skiing, and eating around the city.
Sarah Gupta
Undergraduate Student
Sarah is a junior at Barnard College studying Neuroscience and Behavior & Public Health. Originally from New Jersey, she began her research path at Hackensack Meridian Health CDI, working in a lab focused on epigenetics, particularly DNA methylation profiling and locus-specific analyses in human development and disease. She then moved to New York, where she worked at Columbia University Irving Medical Center on projects examining the molecular and genetic underpinnings of B‑cell lymphomas. In the Canetta Lab, she is currently characterizing serotonergic projections from the raphe nucleus to the prefrontal cortex during early life development, with a focus on its influence on behavior. Outside of the lab, Sarah works as a medical scribe, is part of Columbia Bhangra and Columbia Gyneca. In her free time, she enjoys running, trying new restaurants, and exploring the city with friends.
Lab Alumni
Research Assistants
Gabriella Sahyoun
Emma Holt
Ava Hornblass
Undergraduate Students
Elena Christenfeld
Trang Do
Misbah Sheik
Adre Morrill
Laura Manrique
High School Volunteers
Chloe Do
Jessy Mei