The NYU Langone’s Department of Neuroscience proudly presents the Seminars by Postdocs in Neuroscience: Extramural Series (SPiNES), a monthly seminar that highlights the work of exceptional postdoctoral researchers from institutions outside of NYU Langone.

Each invited speaker delivers a one-hour research presentation, engages in one-on-one meetings with NYU faculty, and participates in informal discussions with members of our neuroscience community.

Founded in 2011, SPiNES was the first seminar series of its kind and has since inspired similar programs at nearly a dozen other universities. Over the past decade, nearly 100 postdocs have presented their research at NYU through this series.

View the complete list of SPiNES alumni.

Selection as a SPiNES speaker offers postdocs a unique opportunity to share cutting-edge research and receive feedback from NYU faculty, postdocs, and students. These interactions often prove invaluable during the academic job search process. In fact, the majority of SPiNES alumni have gone on to secure tenure-track positions at leading institutions.

SPiNES provides a platform for emerging scientists, but it also enriches the NYU community by showcasing innovative research conducted beyond our institute. This is the essence of “farm-to-table” science—presentations delivered by researchers who have personally generated the data they share.

We are proud to present the following speakers for the 2025–26 SPiNES lecture series.

2025–26 SPiNES Speakers

Nicholas Card
University of California, Davis (Laboratory of Sergey Stavisky and David Brandman)

Minhyeok Chang
Johns Hopkins University (Laboratory of Hyungbae Kwon)

Austin Ferro
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (Laboratory of Lucas Cheadle)

Neta Gazit Shimoni
University of California, Berkeley (Laboratory of Stephan Lammel)

Kristyn Lizbinski
Yale University (Laboratory of James Jeanne)

Andrew Matheson
Columbia University (Laboratory of Maria Antonietta Tosches)

Lucas Tian
Rockefeller University (Laboratory of Winrich Freiwald)

William Wright
University of California, San Diego (Laboratory of Takaki Komiyama)

2025–26 SPiNES Committee

Speakers are selected by the NYU SPiNES committee. The 2025–26 committee consists of the following postdoctoral fellows and faculty:

Angelina Evangelou, PhD 
Postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of James Salzer, MD, PhD

Giulia Gennari, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Biyu He, PhD

Maria Selles Japas, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Moses Chao, PhD and Robert Froemke, PhD

Kinga Kocsis, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Michael Long, PhD

Megan Kirchgessner, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Robert Froemke, PhD

Francesco Limone
Postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Shane Liddelow, PhD

Kavin Nunez, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Katherine Nagel, PhD

Xiaohan Wang, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Richard Tsien, DPhil

Ipshita Zutshi, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of György Buzsáki, MD, PhD

Michael A. Long, PhD
Faculty advisor

Please direct any inquiries about SPiNES to Rihan Hassad, MPH, senior project coordinator, Department of Neuroscience, at Rihan.Hassad@NYULangone.org.