Kelly Cheung, HBSc, MSc.c

Hello, I'm Kelly! I graduated with a Honors bachelor of science specializing in neuroscience and minoring in biomedical communications and biology from UTM. I worked on a ROP and Biology thesis with Ben. Continuing my graduate work in the lab, my research will focus on the behavioral outcomes of handling stress and its neurophysiological correlates in zebrafish. My broad interest is in behavioral neuroscience. In my free time I'm road tripping (raving) and exploring new places. Also stuck with Steven. 

Hi I'm Michael. I joined the lab in 2023 as an undergraduate student and completed an independent research project and BIO481 thesis with the lab. I'm now a PhD student in the Department of Psychology studying the underlying mechanisms of learning and memory and also explore  fundamental questions on how fish learn and remember.

In my free time, I like to go out.

Hello! My name is Steven Li and I recently graduated with an H.BSc. in Life Sciences, double majoring in Biology for Health Sciences and Psychology. I am a MEd candidate at OISE and  am concurrently the lab and compliance manager for the lab. In my free time, I enjoy going on hikes, working out at the gym, and playing the piano. 

Ben joined the lab during his undergrad and completed his Honors Bachelor of Science at the University of Toronto, and a Master of Science at Kings College London (UK).

Apart from his PhD, Ben has worked at the Hospital for Sick Children as a Clinical Research Manager, performing the middle cerebral arterial occlusion surgery.

He is the resident fish whisperer for the Gerlai lab with funding from the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (GLAS), the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and Animal Research Tomorrow (Swiss NGO). He has reviewed for over a dozen international journals and has produced 25 peer-reviewed publications in the field of behavioral neuroscience resulting in an h-index of 12. He is a Member of the Royal Society of Biology and serves as an editorial board member for PLOS One.

He teaches PSY352.

Ben is the recipient of the 2023 University of Toronto Mississauga Graduate Research Prize. 

He is a AIDA certified freediver and a PADI certified scuba diver, and likes to go on spontaneous trips.

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?hl=en&user=EETRxGgAAAAJ&view_op=list_works

My name is Chuanyu Wu. You can also call me Yuri. I am a 4th-year UTM student specializing in neuroscience and majoring in bio for health sci. I will join the Gerlai lab for my biology thesis. I am currently helping Stephanie with her research on the effect of tank sizes on zebrafish behaviour. I have a strong passion for neuroscience and especially for using animal models to study their behavioural responses. I am looking forward to getting more involved in the lab and in this research field. During my free time, I love to spend time exploring nature and arts created by amazing artists!

Hello~ My name is Jenny Sung, and I am a Psychology major at UTM. I am joining the Gerlai lab to work with Ben, and to pursue my research interests in behavioural neuroscience. In my spare time, I love to go for a walk carrying a good cup of latte.

I am an aspiring psych student in 1st year from Germany who is working with Ben in the Gerlai Lab. I think that most things are cool, especially bananas and ramen. A particular interest of mine is studying hard, which I refer to as 'grinding'. Apart from education, I like thinking about the potential benefits of living a healthy lifestyle, being hot, overthinking, and sleeping 9 hours. 

My name is Andrew Gnanapragasam and I am a 3rd year student specializing in Psychology and minoring in Biology. I am currently a volunteer under Amira. I have always been interested in learning and memory, both the behavioural and biological aspects of it. I am looking forward to exploring these more in detail at the Gerlai Lab! 

Hi! My name is Kenneth and I'm currently a 3rd year undergraduate student studying biology and neuroscience at the University of Toronto Mississauga. I hope to achieve great things in the Gerlai Lab under Ben's supervision. It's kinda wild I get the chance to work with a guy who has his own wikipedia page. Maybe someday I'll get my own wikipedia page. Outside of school, I like going to the gym and hitting my protein goals. Cats and dogs are actually the coolest, but fish are alright I guess… 

Heyy, I'm a second year for neuroscience specialist and a psychology major. I like steve (the cat) and wasting time doing nothing. I maybe like fish but they're on thin ice. My future plans are to hopefully be a rich researcher. 

I'm a 4th year Neuroscience Specialist Student at UTM. I joined the Gerlai Lab as a volunteer, and I am currently completing an independent research project. My project examines if shoaling preferences in zebrafish are affected by their housing densities, broadly examining if stress has an effect on group-formation. I am collaborating with Yuri for this project, and we are being supervised by Zahra and Stephanie as our project makes use of numerosity and shoaling. I am excited to continue researching and discovering social behaviour in zebrafish.

Hi! I am Eren (yeah the spelling is like Eren Jaeger) from Ben's team. I am interested in most things, or at least I think I am. But I know that I love rocket ships. I don't have much experience with fish apart from having a goldfish when I was six that I may have killed because of overfeeding. Anyways, as an undergrad, I want to gain research experience from working with such experienced people in the Gerlai lab and hope to contribute to the lab's extensive research. If you have come this far, thanks for reading my blurb! 

My name is Ryan Ugovsek and I am an incoming third year student at UTM. I am currently majoring in Biology for the Health Sciences, with minors in psychology and chemistry. However, I plan to pursue a specialist in neuroscience starting in the 2023-2024 fall/winter term. As an aspiring neuroscientist, I have always been fascinated by the variety of techniques and model organisms that researchers use in the laboratory. The Gerlai Lab's previous work with zebrafish, in particular, inspired me to join the team and contribute to its current research!