PhD Students

The Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience (IPN) at Georgetown University trains doctoral candidates to teach and conduct independent research in Neuroscience. 

SARA DYSLIN

PhD Candidate
Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience

Sara Dyslin began the IPN in July 2020 and joined CRL in the Fall of 2021. Prior to Georgetown, she worked as a research assistant predominantly studying primary progressive aphasia at the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease at Northwestern University. She received her BA in neuroscience from Hendrix College in 2018 and her MS in health informatics from Jacksonville University in 2019. She is interested in mechanisms of neuroplasticity after injury or trauma. Within CRL, she is using structural and functional MRI to investigate neuroplasticity within the reading network after stroke. Outside of the lab, Sara loves to read, play sports (especially volleyball), and spend time near or on the water.

Natalya VlAdyko

PhD Student Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience

Natalya joined the IPN in the summer of 2022. She received her BA degree in Linguistics and an MA degree in Philology from Novosibirsk State University. Then, as a Fulbright Graduate Student Award recipient, she continued her education at Southern Illinois University where she got her MA degree in Linguistics in 2021. After graduation, Natalya did an internship at the Georgetown Brain and Language Lab directed by Dr. Michael Ullman, where she looked into how language abilities change throughout the lifespan. In the spring of 2023, Natalya joined the CRL and is now co-mentored by Drs. Elissa Newport and Peter Turkeltaub. Her research interest is in language processing and brain plasticity after perinatal and adult strokes. Outside of the lab, Natalya enjoys baking, working out, and reading. 

Elizabeth chang

MD/PhD Student Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience

Elizabeth Chang joined IPN in 2024. She graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a BA in Cognitive Science and a minor in Psychology in 2018, where she studied spatial processing and visual perception. For four years following undergraduate, she worked at Johns Hopkins Hospital in the Neuroimaging Core studying biomarkers of mild cognitive impairment and worked on a clinical trial for Alzheimer’s therapeutics, furthering her interest in translational research in cognitive science. She completed an MS in Biotechnology at Hopkins prior to starting the MD-PhD program at Georgetown in 2023. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, baking and visiting museums.