The Neuroscience Majors’ Union (NMU) aims to represent the needs and interests of both prospective and declared Neuroscience majors and minors. The NMU provides unique social and academic opportunities that encourage the growth of the neuro community at Duke, adding a richer layer of experience to the major.
2021-2022 EXECUTIVE BOARD
President
RJ Shah,Trinity ’23
Email: rjs79@duke.edu
Major(s): Neuroscience
RJ is a senior studying Neuroscience and minoring in Biology. He works in Dr. Cynthia Kuhn’s lab in the Medical School’s Pharmacology Department where he is currently studying how prolonged cocaine use may alter baseline affect in rat models. In his free time, RJ is hooping.
Katherine is a senior from New York City majoring in neuroscience and minoring in linguistics and chemistry. She is a part of Dr. Liping Feng’s Lab studying the effect of PFAS on maternal health and fetal brain development. She is also a member of the Language, Music, and Dementia Bass Connections team under Dr. Edna Andrews. For fun, she enjoys figure skating and listening to audiobooks.
Secretary
Chloe Schaefgen, Trinity ’23
Email: cas185@duke.edu
Major(s): Neuroscience B.S.
Chloe is a senior studying Neuroscience with minors in Economics and French. She works in Dr. Diego Bohórquez’s laboratory in the Duke School of Medicine where she is studying the gut-brain pathway, specifically focused on pathogen sensing. She is planning on pursuing a PhD in neurobiology after undergrad. When she is not in class or lab, you can find Chloe listening to podcasts, hanging out with friends, or watching Ted Lasso.
Treasurer
Gayatri Chintala, Trinity ’24
Email: cas185@duke.edu
Major(s): Neuroscience
Gayatri is a junior who lives in Virginia. She is a Neuroscience major on the pre-med track. She works in the Floyd lab studying mouse models of brain metastasis via immunotherapy. She is also a member of the Laboratory art in practice bass connection project. In her free time Gayatri also loves to perform spoken word poetry, read, and watch old movies.
Publicity & Web Chair
Dipali Arora, Trinity ’24
Email:da197@duke.edu
Major(s): Neuroscience
Dipali is a junior studying Neuroscience and minoring in Global Health. She is at Dr. Evans lab in the Medical School Cell Biology Department where she looks at the autophagy pathways in neurons and its association with diseases such as Parkinsons and ALS. In her free time, she loves to read and watch a good rom com.
Upperclassman
Representative
Julia Leeman, Trinity ’24
Email: jml155@duke.edu
Major(s): Neuroscience and Music
Julia is a junior from Charlotte, NC double majoring in Neuroscience and Music. She works in the O-Lab studying auditory imagery of speech and non-speech sounds. She also loves to sing and is involved in Duke’s Opera Theater and Chorale. She hopes to become a professor because she loves to learn and teach.
Upperclassman
Representative
Cordelia Hume, Trinity ’24
Email: clh92@duke.edu
Major(s): Neuroscience
Cordelia is a junior from the Durham area majoring in Neuroscience with minors in Chemistry and Biology. She currently works in the Chiba-Falek Lab studying the APOE genetic risk factor for late onset Alzheimer’s Disease. After a gap year Cordelia hopes to attend medical school and potentially graduate school. Her hobbies include cooking, running, knitting, and hanging out with friends.
Underclassman
Representative
Carlos Montes, Trinity ’25
Email: cm600@duke.edu
Major(s): Neuroscience and Music.
Carlos is a sophomore from McHenry, IL, double majoring in neuroscience and music. He works under Dr. Laurie Sanders researching protein interactions related to Parkinson’s Disease, and he recently joined Dr. Tobias Overath’s lab where he will work on musical perception projects in the future. After Duke, he hopes to attend medical school and specialize in pediatric neurosurgery. Outside of academics, he enjoys playing and watching soccer, and running.
Peer Mentoring
Co-President
Paige Sevchik, Trinity ’24
Email: pas68@duke.edu
Major(s): Neuroscience and Spanish
Paige is a junior double majoring in Neuroscience and Spanish. She currently works in the Adcock Lab studying how curiosity and surprise impact information seeking and memory formation, as well as in the O-Lab studying pre-stimulus EEG as a measuring of auditory ‘internal noise’ related to hidden hearing loss. Outside of lab, you can find Paige hanging out with the puppies at Duke’s Canine Cognition Center or trying to find the best matcha latte in Durham. After undergrad, she is planning on pursuing a PhD in cognitive neuroscience.
Peer Mentoring
Co-President
Emily Da Cruz, Trinity ’23
Email: etd10@duke.edu
Major(s): Neuroscience
Emily is a senior from East Hanover, NJ majoring in neuroscience with minors in chemistry and Spanish on the premed track. She has worked in the Mikati Lab since her freshman year, studying Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood, specifically focusing on complications due to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) using mouse models. After taking a gap year to pursue clinical research, Emily plans to attend medical school. In her free time, she loves to go to the gym, cook, and binge watch reality TV.
