Daniel Ryskamp Rijsketić , PhD, MSCI, trained in neuroscience at the U of Idaho (advisor: Stefan Werner, PhD), U of Utah (PhD advisor: David Krizaj, PhD; MSCI advisor: David Shprecher, DO, MSCI), UT Southwestern Medical Center (postdoctoral advisor: Ilya Bezprozvanny, PhD, DSci) and U of Florida (postdoctoral advisor: Laura Ranum, PhD) and focused research on understanding pathogenic events in neurodegenerative diseases (glaucoma, Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).

Daniel joined the Heifets lab in 2019 and helped develop UNRAVEL (UN-biased high-Res Analysis and Validation of Ensembles using Lightsheet images; https://github.com/b-heifets) to automate brain-wide mapping of neural activity associated with MDMA, psilocybin, ketamine, etc., in mice. Resulting maps guide identification of neural circuits contributing to specific drug effects through characterization of inputs/outputs and chemogenetic manipulation of active ensembles in Fos::iCreER knock-in (TRAP2) mice. Parsing the myriad of effects each drug has on neurophysiology and behavior can inform development of refined treatments that minimize side effects complicating clinical utility while maximizing therapeutic efficacy (e.g., relief from depression or PTSD).