People
Principal Investigator
Marcus Weera, PhD
Faculty ProfileX (formerly Twitter)
Dr. Weera is the Evans Family Assistant Professor at Tufts University. Dr. Weera received a BS degree in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from Michigan State University, and a PhD in Neuroscience from Purdue University. He completed postdoctoral training at LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, where he received an F32 National Research Service Award and K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institutes of Health.
Postdoctoral Scholar
Negin Mohammadmirzaei, PhD
Negin has a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of Delaware, an MS in Animal Physiology, and a BS in Animal Biology, both from the University of Tehran. Her current work is focused on understanding brain circuits that are disrupted by traumatic stress, and how they contribute to avoidance behaviors and alcohol drinking.
Graduate Students
Sydney Bonauto
Sydney received her BA in Neuroscience from Bowdoin College in 2023. At Bowdoin she worked with Dr. Jenn Honeycutt to examine the sex-specific effects of early life adversity on affective processing of rat ultrasonic vocalization playback. In the Weera Lab, Sydney investigates the role of extended amygdala and lateral hypothalamic circuitry in driving individual differences in stress-induced alcohol drinking.
Olivia Brunke
Olivia received a BS degree in Neuroscience from Tulane University in 2023. During her undergraduate studies, Olivia worked in the lab of Dr. Tiffany Wills (LSU Health) on projects that investigate the neurobiological consequences of adolescent alcohol exposure. At Tufts, Olivia works on projects related to the neurobiology of stress and alcohol interactions.
Elizabeth “Libby” Danielson
Libby received her BA in Biology from Skidmore College in 2023. During her undergraduate studies, she worked in Jennifer Bonner’s lab where she analyzed the effects of CBD extract on embryonic zebrafish CNS development. She went on to do her post-bac at Massachusetts General Hospital in Dennis Brown’s Membrane Biology lab where she mastered various technical laboratory skills. In the Weera lab, she is currently researching the relationship between amygdala network states, stress reactivity, and alcohol drinking.
Henrique Vieira
Henrique graduated with a B.S. in Neuroscience and a B.S. in Psychology from Arizona State University in 2025. During his undergraduate studies, he worked with Dr. Jessica Verpeut investigating the role of long-distance cerebellar circuits in animal models of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). At Tufts, Henrique's research examines how chronic binge-like alcohol consumption shapes aggressive behavior, using mouse models to understand the behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying this relationship.
Alumni
Alexa Pil
Alexa managed the Weera Lab from 2025-2026 while leading a project examining inhibitory/excitatory balance in the lateral hypothalamus during stress. She is now completing a Postbaccalaureate Premedical program at Bryn Mawr.
Micah Frier
As a research associate in the Weera Lab, Micah studied alcohol heightened aggression in mice. Now Micah is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at Duquesne University.
Brittany Blasetti
Brittany graduated from Tufts University with an MS degree in Experimental Psychology in 2025. Her thesis focused on aggression seeking behavior in female mice.