Our Team

Bryan Copits is a person.

Jamie is an MD/PhD student at WashU. They are developing novel gene editing techniques in order to study how the brainstem modulates pain and responds to opioid medications. Outside of lab, they are involved in activism and mutual aid in St. Louis. In their free time, they enjoy playing trumpet and piano, writing, and playing Dungeons & Dragons. They also host the podcast In Plain English, a show about cool science that’s accessible to everyone.

A biomedical engineering major at WashU, Kelly is testing new optogenetic technologies for modifying synaptic transmission. Outside of school, she can be found baking bread, skateboarding, or fighting muay thai.

Dinesh is a Postdoctoral Research Associate. He completed his PhD in the University of Toledo. He is developing photo switchable optogenetic tools to mimic the natural G protein signaling of any GPCR of interest. He enjoys traveling, 360-degree photography and playing cricket and badminton.

Vani is a Staff Scientist in the Copits Lab.  She is a molecular biologist extraordinaire, responsible for generating all the different optogenetic tools and viral constructs used to study optical modulation of synaptic transmission and circuit tracing in the Copits and Samineni labs, and keeps the lab stocked, organized and not on fire. She loves cooking, reading and spending time with her grandkids.