People

Graham Diering
PI

Dr. Diering is the PI of the Diering Lab. He studies the molecular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity, with a particular interest in sleep. Using mouse models of human disease as well as primary cultured neurons, Dr. Diering applies his work to understanding and treating neurodevelopment disorders including Autism and intellectual disability. He broadly studies biochemistry, pharmacology, animal behavior and genetics.

Lisa Sharek
Lab Manager

Lisa received her Master’s Degree from East Carolina University and has worked for fifteen years in the Burridge Lab at UNC as Lab Manager. She is currently transitioning from the Burridge Lab to the Diering Lab.

Julia Sparks Lord
Research Specialist

Julia is in charge of our mouse colonies and behavioral assays. She is currently concentrating on profiling mouse sleep/wake behaviors through parameters such as sleep time and bout length.

Shenée Martin
Graduate Student

Shenée is a third-year graduate student in the UNC Neuroscience Department. Her research focuses on sleep disruptions in neurodegenerative disorders, particularly Alzheimer’s Disease.

Sean Gay
Graduate Student

Sean is a second-year graduate student in the Neuroscience Department. His research focuses on neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly Phelan McDermid syndrome and its relation to sleep and the endocannabinoid system.

Michael Ye
Technician

Michael graduated from UNC in 2019 as part of the university’s first cohort of neuroscience majors. His work consists of biochemical assays analyzing endocannabinoid expression in relation to synaptic scaling.

Kirsten Smith
Undergraduate

Kirsten is a junior at UNC Chapel Hill. She is majoring in biology with a chemistry minor, and plans to concentrate her efforts in molecular biology and genetics.

Diane Youngstrom
Undergraduate

Diane is a junior at UNC Chapel Hill majoring in chemistry. She assists Shenée in biochemical assays

Bradley Allf
Technician

Now a graduate student in the NC Museum of Natural Sciences Biodiversity Research Lab/NC State University.

Maria F. Gonzalez-Aponte
PREP Student

Sarah Monroe
Technician

Now a graduate student at Duke University.