Meet the shoal.

Harini Iyer

Harini grew up in India and studied microbiology. Her first taste of research came in AstraZeneca’s drug discovery program. She began her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign intending to stay in microbiology, until a talk on planarians by Phil Newmark changed her plans. She joined his lab and spent her Ph.D. working out how germline stem cells sustain themselves in these regenerating flatworms and in their parasitic relatives, the schistosomes.

Regeneration took her next to zebrafish, in Will Talbot’s lab at Stanford, where she set out to study how the nervous system rebuilds myelin. The experiments pointed somewhere else: to microglia, the brain’s resident immune cells, and to the lysosomal pathways they depend on. That detour became the foundation of her lab at Rice, which studies how neuroimmune signaling shapes neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders.

Outside the lab, Harini spends time with her dog, Arya, listens to far too many podcasts, and reads fiction.

Emilio Méndez Scolari

Emilio was born in Pirayú, a small city in the Paraguayan countryside. He earned his BSc in Biochemistry and MSc in Biological Chemical Sciences at the Facultad de Ciencias Químicas of the Universidad Nacional de Asunción (FCQ-UNA). His master’s research in the Biotechnology Department focused on engineering a recombinant M13 phage to carry an immunogenic peptide from the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) for vaccine development. He later studied the antiviral activity of natural extracts against HSV-1. Despite his strong interest in phage and virus research, his next goal was to pursue his passion for neuroscience. To achieve this goal, he obtained the Fulbright–CAL scholarship to pursue a PhD in the USA. In 2025, he joined the Iyer Laboratory as a PhD student in the Biochemistry and Cell Biology program within the BioSciences Department at Rice University.

In his free time, he enjoys playing the electric guitar, watching movies, going to concerts, and engaging in sports such as running, soccer, biking, and hiking.

Tanushree Chakraborty

Tanushree grew up in West Bengal, India—a state renowned for its UNESCO-recognized Durga Puja festival celebrating the goddess Durga over ten days. She earned her B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Calcutta and her M.Sc. in Biochemistry from Banaras Hindu University. At the Department of Biophysics and Structural Genomics, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), Kolkata, her research focused on identifying organelle-specific cancer biomarkers for early diagnosis.

Over time, Tanushree explored various career paths, including serving as a Teacher and Administrator. Yet, she always felt a deep connection to research. To reconnect with her scientific roots, she joined the Iyer Lab as a Research Technician in 2026.

In her free time, she loves painting, cooking, crafting, planting, and traveling.

Brandon Martz

Brandon was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. He is a third-year undergraduate majoring in Chemistry and Biosciences. His research work began in the Tour lab, where he assayed the activity of novel antimicrobial molecules against clinical bacterial pathogens. To pursue an interest in neuroscience and psychiatric disorders, Brandon joined the Iyer lab in 2026 as an undergraduate researcher.

In his free time, Brandon runs track and cross country for Rice University, reads non-fiction, and enjoys music and being outdoors.

Arya

Arya was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and adopted in 2014 as a tiny four-month-old puppy. Since then, she has listened to her mom give countless practice talks and has snoozed through every one. She believes everyone she meets is her best friend, a theory that has yet to be proven wrong.

Outside the lab, Arya loves naps, long hikes, and walks. She thinks fetch is lame.