Owen Lab Team Members
Scott Owen, PhD
Principal Investigator
Scott has a longstanding interest in the synaptic and cellular physiology that drives neuronal circuit activity and behavior. He grew up in Pennsylvania and obtained his undergraduate training in Physics at Amherst College. He completed his PhD in Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University in the laboratory of Richard Tsien, where he identified a novel synaptic mechanism through which the Autism-linked peptide oxytocin sharpens local circuit function in the hippocampus. In his post-doctoral work with Dr Anatol Kreitzer at the Gladstone Institutes and UCSF, Scott integrated in vivo and ex vivo physiology with novel imaging and behavioral approaches to determine how local microcircuits in the basal ganglia improve learning of complex behaviors. Scott is passionate about integrating mechanistic studies in model systems with direct investigation of cells, synapses, and circuits in the human brain, to deepen our understanding of human brain function and to improve the translation of treatments for neurological disease from the lab to the clinic. Outside of the lab, Scott can most often be found running, hiking, playing soccer, and exploring Northern California with his family.
Jason Clark, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Jason’s primary interests involve information processing at both the individual neuron, and the microcircuit level, that are responsible for goal directed behaviors. He is particularly interested in how neuromodulators regulate changes in information processing that lead to changes in behavior, particularly as it relates to excitatory/inhibitory balance in both typical and atypical behaviors such as those observed in Epilepsy, Parkinson’s, and a variety of other neurological conditions. Jason received his undergraduate degree in Biology from Georgia Southern University, and a Ph.D. in Physiology and Pharmacology from the University of Georgia.
Saksham Consul
Graduate student, Electrical Engineering
Saksham received his undergraduate degree in Electronics and Instrumentation engineering from BITS Pilani, India. Before Stanford, he was a scientific programmer at the Rationality Enhancement Group, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, working on discovering and teaching effective strategies for planning and decision making. In the Owen lab, he is helping to create open source components for electrophysiological stimulation. Outside of lab, Saksham can most often be found working out, playing music, cooking, baking, and exploring cafes around the region.
Gursajan Gill
Research Assistant
Gursajan graduated from Williams College where he studied the modulation of the HPI axis in zebrafish. At the Owen lab, he is excited to contribute to projects focused on in-vivo physiology and mouse behavior. Outside of lab, he enjoys baking, biking, and going on long road trips.
Deniz Bingul
Graduate Student, Neuroscience Program
Deniz received her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from Middlebury College, where she studied neurometabolic coupling as it supports LTP. Before Stanford, she was a research assistant in the Axel lab at Columbia, studying information seeking in mice. In the Owen lab, she is particularly interested in impulsivity and the basal ganglia network oscillations that characterize Parkinson’s disease - and how we might modulate impulsive behaviors using interventions such as deep-brain stimulation. Outside of lab, she loves to cook for people, swim, and road-trip.
Rennie Kendrick
Graduate Student, Neuroscience Program
Rennie Kendrick received her B.S. in Biology from University of Oregon in 2020. After graduation, she spent a year as a research assistant at University of British Columbia studying the molecular organization of a brain region important to anxiety, the central amygdala. As a graduate student in the Neurosciences program at Stanford, she is interested in using computational and experimental approaches to translate across species (mouse to human) and modalities (molecular to cellular). Outside of science, she enjoys biking, skiing, and running.
Aneysis Gonzalez-Suarez, Ph.D.
Medical Student
Aneysis Gonzalez-Suarez received her B.S. in Biology from Florida International University in 2014. After graduating, she spent two years as a post-baccalaureate fellow at the National Institutes of Health, where she studied how the biophysics of SSRI protein targets influence their role in neural physiology. She then completed a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Yale University. There, she studied how the temporal dynamics of individual neurons influence circuit computations, particularly that of motion perception. Now, as an M.D. candidate at Stanford, Aneysis is interested in how important neurosurgical treatment interventions alter basal physiological function and an animal’s behavioral output. Outside of science and medicine, Aneysis enjoys reading, hiking, working out, and traveling.