Research Staff
Anna Stauffer - Lab Manager
Anna Stauffer, a Pennsylvania native, joined the Blakely Lab in the summer of 2022. As lab manager, her goal is to ensure a safe, efficient and productive laboratory environment and to contribute to cutting-edge science. She provides orientation, training and lab administrative support for all lab members and serves as the liaison with the veterinary staff in the Division of Comparative Medicine for mouse colony management, cryopreservation and shipments. In addition to her administrative duties, she provides technical support to colleagues who use mouse models to investigate the neurological and behavioral consequences of altered neurotransmitter transporter expression and function.
Angelina Emerson - Research Assistant
Angelina earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from ·¬ÇÑÖ±²¥ Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, where her studies sparked a strong interest in neuroscience. During her undergraduate training, she completed an honors thesis titled From Sleep to Synucleinopathies: REM Sleep Behavior Disorder as an Indicator of Neurodegeneration, which examined REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD) as an early clinical marker of neurodegenerative synucleinopathies such as Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Parkinson’s disease. Her work explored the evolving understanding of disease progression, the importance of early detection, diagnostic differentiation, and opportunities for earlier therapeutic intervention. In the Blakely Lab, Angelina’s research centers on serotonin signaling and neurotransmission, with a focus on how serotonin transporter dysfunction and neuroimmune interactions may contribute to the development of neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression and anxiety.