Mohammed Abuelem, B.A., M.Sc.

Mohammed received a B.A. in Neuroscience from Harvard University in 2023, where he conducted his undergraduate thesis project in Prof. Takao Hensch's lab investigating the developmental role of the Shank3 autism risk gene in cognitive flexibility using a reversible mouse model of Shank3 deficiency. Mohammed then pursued an M.Sc. by Research degree in Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics at the University of Oxford under the mentorship of Prof. Zoltán Molnár and Prof. Ed Mann, where he employed in-vitro whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology and multielectrode array recordings to study the dopaminergic modulation of deep-layer neuronal network activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and its role in mediating anxiety behavior.

Mohammed joined the Leopold Lab in 2024 as an NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholar, where he seeks to investigate the interplay between synaptic molecular mechanisms and network activity involved in cortical circuit development in rodents and nonhuman primates. After his Ph.D., Mohammed plans to attend medical school with the long-term goal of becoming a physician-scientist and improving therapies that target altered cortical circuit dynamics.