The Banerjee Lab
We are diverse in background, gender, and opinions but united in our desire to understand the principles of brain function and evolution. We aim to tackle big questions in neuroscience with sincerity, rigor, fun and humility.
The lab started in November 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. We are physically located in the Marks building at beautiful campus of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Long Island, New York.
Dr. Arkarup Banerjee
Principal Investigator
Arka is an Assistant Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Combining his expertise in systems neuroscience and my passion for animal behavior, Arka seeks to discover neural circuit mechanisms for ethologically-relevant natural behaviors. Arka is passionate about teaching and science communication. He is a bibliophile, food enthusiast, amateur singer, and an eternal optimist.
Dr. Clifford Harpole
Postdoctoral Fellow
Cliff completed his Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky, studying the neuroendocrine regulation of seasonal and circadian rhythms of the vocalizations of songbirds. Cliff is continuing a theme from his dissertation, how the brains of highly vocal species modulate their vocal production, in the singing mouse. Cliff's current project hopes to give some clues toward where the singing mouse song comes from--both within the brain, and throughout evolution.
Xiaoyue (Mike) Zheng
Graduate Student
Mike grew up in China and came to the US for college. He received his Bachelor's Degree at Colby College where he majored in neuroscience and computer science. He is currently a PhD student at the CSHL School of Biological Sciences. Mike joined the Banerjee Lab in 2021. He is interested in how singing mice make different vocalizations in different social contexts.
Emily Isko
Graduate Student
Emily is co-advised by Arka Banerjee and Tony Zador. Her project uses comparative connectomics and transcriptomics to determine key differences in the motor cortex of lab and singing mice that might explain the differences in the species' vocal behavior. She is an active member of CSHL's Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) group and plays clarinet with other scientist-musicians on campus (including Arka).
Martin Davis
Senior Research Assistant
Martin has been supporting Bioengineering and Neuroscience research in various capacities for almost 20 years. He makes sure everything is running smoothly and enjoys building rigs and teaching students. Outside of the lab, he is busy keeping up with three kids, following his favorite basketball, soccer, and football teams, and solving crosswords competitively.
Yaman Thapa
Graduate Student
Yaman received a bachelor's degree in Chemistry with a minor in neuroscience from Caldwell University. Yaman is a PhD student at the School of Biological Science at CSHL co-advised by Dr. Arka Banerjee and Dr. Benjamin Cowley. Using computational and experimental tools, Yaman is interested in understanding the temporal patterning of vocalization in singing mice in solo and social conditions. In her spare time, Yaman enjoys crocheting, singing, and reading.
Alumni
Kristina Shaw (Rotation Student, 2024)
Yunxin Xie (Rotation Student, 2024)
Yaman Thapa (Rotation Student, 2023)
Anika Nayak (High school summer intern, 2023)
Meghan Lee (High school summer intern, 2023)
Luke Bemish (CSHL URP summer student , 2023)
Pantelis Vafidis (CSHL NeuroAI intern, 2023, jointly mentored with Ben Cowley at CSHL)
Hoda Ansari (Rotation Student, 2022)
Aditya Lahiri (High school summer intern, 2022)
Ronin Zador (High school summer intern, 2022)
Abigail Williams (CSHL URP summer student , 2022)
Amelia Simonoff (CSHL NeuroAI intern, 2022)