People

Internal Advisory Board

Dr. Isaac Pessah

Isaac Pessah, PhD

  • Associate Dean of Research, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
  • Professor, Molecular Biosciences
Dr. Isaac Pessah is a specialist in molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating cellular Ca2+ signaling. He was a Project Lead in the UC Davis CounterACT Center of Excellence from 2012-2022 and is an accomplished neurotoxicologist. 

Pilot Project Recipients

Headshot of Christelle Anaclet

Christelle Anaclet, PhD

  • Pilot Project Recipient 2023-2024
Dr. Christelle Anaclet is an associate adjunct professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery in the School of Medicine. Her pilot project focuses on understanding if there are sleep-wake consequences after acute organophophate (OP) intoxication with DFP because the link between seizures and disrupted sleep is well known. Knowledge gained can ultimately lead to beneficial sleep interventions to help reduce seizures and improve cognitive function. 
Picture of Ali Izadi

Ali Izadi, PhD

  • Pilot Project Recipient 2022-2023
Dr. Ali Izadi is an assistant project scientist in the Department of Neurological Surgery in the School of Medicine. It is expected that in a mass casualty situation from organophosphate exposure there would be pediatric cases, yet there has been little research on how to treat this population. Dr. Izadi used his pilot project award to develop a pediatric animal model of DFP acute intoxication with the long-term goal of using it to improve patient outcomes.  

Postdoctoral Researcher

Headshot of Tamires Teodoro

Tamires Teodoro, PhD

  • Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Project 2
Dr. Tamires Teodoro is a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Angie Gelli’s lab. She has also been working at Dr. Lein’s lab for the CounterACT program. She earned her DVM degree from the Federal University of Lavras, Brazil, in 2017. Her main career goal is to work with Animal Pathology. Her research for CounterACT involves the blood-brain barrier function following organophosphate intoxication.
Yi-Hua (Teresa) Tsai

Yi-Hua (Teresa) Tsai, PhD

  • Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Project 2
Dr. Yi-Hua Tsai is a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Pamela Lein's lab in the Department of Molecular Biosciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine. Her research for CounterACT involves the assessment and characterization of blood-brain barrier function in the rat model of acute OP intoxication.

Professional Researcher

Naomi Saito

Naomi Saito, MS

  • Statistical Programmer and Analyst Scientist
  • Core C
Naomi Saito is a Statistical Programmer and Analyst for the Department of Public Health Sciences. She is an expert in SAS and R for data analysis, as well as  STATA, SUDAAN, and Mplus. She is well versed in best practices for statistical programming, providing commented code, textual output, and figures for statistical analyses.
Sydney Baker

Sydney Huddleston, MS

  • Imaging Research Associate Scientist
  • Core B
Sydney Huddleston is an Imaging Research Associate at the Center for Molecular and Genomic Imaging at UC Davis. She is a practiced animal technologist with a background in biomedical research, and she assists the CounterACT program with MRI and PET acquisition and analysis.
Headshot_of_Emily_Huie

Emily Huie, BS

  • Junior Specialsit
  • Project 3
Emily Huie is a junior specialist in the Silverman laboratory. Under the guidance of Dr. Jill Silverman and Dr. Gene Gurkoff, her work for CounterACT involves using standardized rodent behavioral assays to investigate the effects of acute organophosphate intoxication on various behavioral domains, with a specific focus on cognition.
Picture of Ali Izadi

Ali Izadi, PhD

  • Assistant Project Scientist
  • Project 3
Dr. Ali Izadi is an assistant project scientist in the Department of Neurological Surgery in the School of Medicine. His research concentrates on the functional relationship between neural oscillations and cognition in the context of preclinical models of neurological disease. The goal of his research is to develop effective deep brain stimulation paradigms that can ultimately be translated into the clinical setting.
Headshot_of_Kyle_Tran

Kyle Tran, BS

  • Junior Specialsit
  • Project 3
Kyle Tran is a junior specialist in the Silverman laboratory. He has extensive and comprehensive experience performing behavioral assays at various ages (neonatal to highly aged). He will assist with in vivo behavioral cognitive experiments in the touchscreen and sleep and seizure assays for CounterACT.