The Research Experiences for High School and Undergraduate Students (REHU) program of the P30 Center for Genetics, Genomics, and Epigenetics of Substance Use Disorders in Outbred Rats will provide participants with an opportunity to conduct 10-week summer research projects with their mentors in one of the Center-affiliated laboratories. In addition, REHU students will attend a journal club, write a research paper, and present their work to their colleagues.
The dates for the program are June 9 – Aug 15, 2025, but can be flexible for individual students if needed.
Questions? Please contact Dr. Polesskaya (opolesskaya@ucsd.edu).
Arnav Gurha
Undergraduate, UC San Diego (Biology with specialization in Bioinformatics, minor in Computer Science and Engineering)
Works in Telese Lab at UC San Diego.
Arnav is interested in the application of computational techniques in biological systems. At the Telese Lab, he works on single-cell omics data analysis using Python and R tooling.
During the REHU program he will be working on characterizing the gene expression profiling of different cell types in the nucleus accumbens of HS rats self-administering oxycodone. He will be performing analysis of transcriptionally distinct cell populations through statistical techniques and cell-to-cell communication patterns to better understand these distinct populations.
Daria Kouzminova
Undergraduate, UC San Diego (Cognitive Science with a specialization in Machine Learning and Neural Computation)
Works in Carrette Lab at UC San Diego.
Daria is developing and applying an R-based computational pipeline for analyzing whole-brain functional activity at single-cell resolution. Her work in the Carrette Lab focuses on standardizing the lab’s analysis of c-Fos expression data to map brain-wide reactivity and connectivity in response to substance use and pharmacological treatment.
As part of her summer project, she is using this pipeline to study functional networks in alcohol-dependent mice treated with naltrexone. The pipeline integrates regional Fos counts with experimental metadata, enabling correlation analysis, clustering, statistical comparisons, and visualization through annotated heatmaps and network diagrams. Her work contributes to a reproducible framework for investigating whole-brain adaptations in neuropsychiatric models.
Jaxon Leighty
High School Senior, School of Entrepreneurship and Technology (SET), San Diego
Works in Palmer Lab at UC San Diego.
Jaxon is a high school senior with a strong interest in molecular biology and biotechnology. Through the REHU program, he will gain firsthand experience working in a lab setting and build foundational skills that will support his future goals in science and research.
At Palmer Lab, Jaxon will focus on learning molecular biology protocols and techniques related to DNA/RNA extraction and library preparation. He will assist with routine protocols in the wet lab, contributing to the lab’s ongoing work while developing his technical skills and scientific understanding.
Jaxon is looking forward to learning as much as he can during his time in the lab and getting a better idea of what it’s like to work in research. He’s excited to help out and explore his interests in science through hands-on experience.
Bryan Montoya
Undergraduate, UC San Diego (Biochemistry)
Works in de Guglielmo Lab at UC San Diego.
Bryan is using behavioral self-administration and inhalation models in heterogeneous stock (HS) rats to understand the behavioral and genetic factors involved in alcohol addiction. This project is a collaboration with the Palmer Lab, with the purpose of using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to identify the genetic markers that contribute to individual differences in addiction-like behavior.
Bryan’s work involves behavioral phenotyping of HS rats. He is excited to contribute to research that could be used to gain a deeper understanding of alcohol addiction to inform future treatment options.
Yixuan (Ivy) Xin
Undergraduate, UC San Diego (Cognitive Science with specialization in Machine Learning and Neural Computation)
Works in Palmer Lab at UC San Diego.
Ivy’s research focuses on substance use disorders, intersection of sleep, gut microbiome, and mental disorders. She has experience with bioinformatic analyses and data visualizations in Python and Java.
This summer, she is working on GWAS using phenotypic data collected by Dr. Amelie Baud in 2014, paired with newly generated genotypes from the Palmer Lab. She is currently learning to implement and interpret the lab’s GWAS pipeline, SNP quality control, and genome analysis. Ivy plans to apply to graduate programs in machine learning, computational neuroscience, and bioinformatics.