Meet the Team

Dr. Marina Avetisyan received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University and her MD/PhD in Neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Avetisyan then completed adult neurology training at Mass General Brigham and is now pursuing the Research in Dementia Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. Her current research interests focus on neuroimmune signaling in neurodegenerative diseases. Outside of the lab and clinic spaces, Dr. Avetisyan enjoys chill hiking, gardening and cooking.

Dr. Trupti Shetty is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard-MIT Center for Regulatory Science. Dr. Shetty graduated with a PhD in Pharmacology and a minor in Communicating Science from Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, in 2020 and her research was focused on basic neuro-ophthalmology. She then went on to advance her understanding of degenerative diseases by completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (National Eye Institute) in Bethesda, Maryland before joining the Albers Lab. Dr. Shetty is interested in how regulatory barriers affect therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases and understanding how real-world evidence is being utilized by the FDA. Following her fellowship at CRS, Dr. Shetty plans to explore regulatory scientist roles in the biotech industry or the government. Outsie of the lab, Dr. Shetty enjoys hiking, reading, and gorging on Indian seafood.

Dr. Sasha Mukhija, a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow at the Albers Lab and neurology resident at the University Hospital of Zurich, is driven by a passion for making meaningful contributions as a clinician-scientist in neurology. After earning her MD from the University of Basel in Switzerland, she broadened her expertise through studies and research at KU Leuven in Belgium and Oxford University in the UK. Her current research focuses on the impact of COVID-19 on Alzheimer’s disease and the study of biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases. In her free time, she enjoys running, playing tennis, and dancing salsa to recharge, while also volunteering for a non-profit promoting brain health in senior communities.

Dr. Som Chaudhury is a post-doctoral researcher at Dr. Albers’s group at the Mass General Hospital (MGH), Harvard Medical School. Before coming to MGH, she was a post-doctoral research fellow at Dr. Scherzer’s lab, at Brigham and Womens Hospital and a visiting fellow at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), USA, respectively. She has experiences in advanced and cutting-edge technologies related to iPSC derived NGN2 cortical neurons including Parkinson’s disease and ALS. Dr. Som Chaudhury graduated with a PhD degree from the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur, India and her research was focused on drug development against Alzheimer’s disease. In Albers lab, she is pursuing her research on neuroinflammation and repurposing of the drugs for ALS and AD. Outside of research, Dr. Som Chaudhury is very passionate for singing, playing piano and enjoys cooking and reading books.

Dr. Priyanka Sinha earned her MS in Genetics before completing her PhD at IIT Kanpur, India, in 2021. Her doctoral research focused on the interplay between autophagy, neuroinflammation, and epilepsy in mouse models. Following her PhD, she investigated the role of GLT-1 in Alzheimer's disease during her first postdoctoral fellowship at MGH. Currently, Dr. Sinha is a postdoc in the Albers lab, where she is dedicated to identifying novel drug targets for ALS and advancing therapeutic options. Outside of the lab, Dr. Sinha enjoys reading books, cooking, and exploring nature with her daughter.

Marie-Laure Charpignon is a PhD candidate at MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), conducting research at the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS) and the Harvard-MIT Department of Health, Sciences, and Technology (HST). Marie-Laure obtained a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Sciences from Ecole Centrale Paris and a Master of Science in Computational and Mathematical Engineering from Stanford University. Her research interests include causal inference, network science, agent-based modeling, text analysis, and their applications in public health. Marie collaborates with Dr. Albers as the two focus on the emulation of target trials for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, using observational data from Electronic Health Records in the US and Europe. Outside of research, Marie enjoys hiking, playing tennis, and cooking.

Dr. Nydia Chang is a postdoctoral research fellow. She received her PhD in Neuroscience from Rutgers University. Her doctoral work focused on neuroinflammation and the role of astrocytic RIPK3 inflammatory signaling in Parkinson's disease. She also found that neuronal death releases damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), including HMGB1 and S100B, that in turn, drive astrocyte activation and aggravate Parkinsonian pathology. After receiving her PhD, she then joined the Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) studying cancer immunology. In particular, her research focused on examining the therapeutic potential for dendritic cell-anchored IL-33 in enhancing current PD-1/PD-L1 cancer therapy. Currently, in the Albers lab, she studies the role of neuronal-TBK1 in ALS/FTD pathology. Outside of research, Nydia enjoys hiking, camping, and reading.