Current Lab Members
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Principal Investigator
Jen received her Bachelor of Science in Biology & Psychology from Western Michigan University in her hometown of Kalamazoo, MI. She went on to get her PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience at American University in Washington, DC with Dr. Tony Riley. Jen completed postdoctoral fellowships at UNC-Chapel Hill (Go Heels!) and here at MUSC, before transitioning to faculty and officially opening her lab in July 2021 in the Department of Neuroscience. She is also a member of the Charleston Alcohol Research Center.
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Research Specialist I
Clemson University - '23
Jacob graduated from Clemson University with a major in Biology and joined the Rinker Lab after graduation as a Research Specialist.
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PhD Student
Krysten is a 5th year doctoral candidate in the BMS PhD program and is co-mentored by Dr. Patrick Mulholland. Krysten is originally from Long Island, NY, but went to Elon University in North Carolina, where she majored in Psychology. She received her Master of Science from SUNY Upstate in Biomedical Sciences. Her graduate research focuses on incorporating deep machine learning and behavioral neuroscience approaches to parse the role of the dorsal peduncular cortex in stress-related behaviors.
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PhD Student
Katie is from the Eastern Shore of Maryland and received her Bachelor of Science from Elizabethtown College in Central Pennsylvania. She’s always found the brain fascinating so double majoring in neuroscience and psychology was a no brainer for her in undergrad. Through the different research opportunities she’s had she realized a passion for research in the neurobiological mechanisms that are permissive of addiction, and she is especially interested in examining sex differences alcohol use disorder that might impact treatment strategies.
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MS Student
Chant’e is working on understanding the role of the Mediodorsal Thalamus and its reciprocal connections with the medial Prefrontal Cortex in regulating excessive alcohol consumption in a model of alcohol dependence.
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Research Specialist I
College of Charleston - '24
Cynara was a Biology major at CofC and a fellow in the Dept. of Neuroscience’s distinguished MINDS Program. She is spending her gap year before medical school as a Research Specialist in the Rinker Lab.
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PhD Student
Heyam is a 6th year doctoral candidate in the BMS PhD program here at MUSC and is co-mentored by Dr. Judson Chandler. She is originally from Baton Rouge, LA and got her Bachelor of Science from Southeastern Louisiana University in Environmental Science. The opioid epidemic piqued her interest in understanding addiction neuroscience and thus she decided to pursue her PhD at MUSC. Heyam’s research focuses on characterizing CRF neurons in the lateral septum and their role in fear-related behaviors.
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PhD Student
Amy is originally from Myrtle Beach, SC, but graduated in 2021 from Washington and Lee University in Virginia. In undergrad, she worked on pesticide-induced neuronal degeneration in frog spines and is excited to continue pursuing neuroscience at MUSC. Her research is a collaborative effort between the Rinker and Otis labs focusing on the paraventricular thalamus (PVT) → nucleus accumbens (NAc) pathway and how chronic alcohol exposure alter synaptic inputs onto parvalbumin interneurons in the NAc to promote alcohol seeking.
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MD/PhD Student
Marcus is a MSTP student entering the first year of his PhD training. He is jointly mentored by Dr. Rinker and Dr. Jim Otis. Originally from Minnesota, Marcus attended the University of Minnesota for undergrad and started here at MUSC in the summer of 2021. He is interested in advanced neuroscience techniques that could be applied in the clinical population to treat addiction (e.g., focused ultrasound mediated drug delivery). He is also passionate about peer-to-peer and community recovery approaches and affordable therapies for individuals with substance use disorders.
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Undergrad Research Assistant
College of Charleston
Mattie is a Biochemistry major at CofC. Currently her project in the lab focuses on using immunohistochemistry to characterize the molecular phenotype of CRF neurons in both the medial Prefrontal Cortex and the Paraventricular Nucleus of the Thalamus. Mattie plans to pursue graduate school in the future.
Postbacs and Undergraduate Research Assistants
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Postbac PREP Fellow
Presbyterian College - '24
Jayden originally joined the Rinker Lab in the summer of 2023 as a SURP fellow. He has returned this summer as a Postbac Researcher as part of MUSC's Postbac Research Education Program (PREP). He is co-mentored by Drs. Mulholland and Rinker and will be exploring the role of the mediodorsal thalamus in regulating alcohol consumption and alcohol-biased choice behavior in a model of alcohol dependence.
Graduate Students
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Summer Undergraduate Researcher
University of South Carolina
Marina is a rising sophomore at the University of South Carolina majoring in Neuroscience.
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Undergraduate Research Assistant
College of Charleston
Luke is a rising senior and biology major at CofC. He joined the Rinker Lab this summer and will be completing his Bachelor's Essay research with us this coming year.
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PhD Student
Coming soon...
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PhD Student
Coming soon...
Lab Alumni
Megan Alvarez
University of Pennsylvania - ‘26
Undergrad Intern
Andrew de Arellano
University of South Carolina - ‘24
DART Fellow - Summer 2022
Cat Bowman
College of Charleston - ‘23
Undergraduate Researcher
Janiah Davis
College of Charleston - ‘23
Undergraduate Researcher
Savanna King
College of Charleston - ‘24
Undergraduate Researcher
Sydney Calamusa
College of Charleston - ‘24
Undergraduate Researcher
*Currently at the University of South Carolina
in the biomedical sciences PhD program.
Grace Joyner
University of South Carolina - ‘23
SURP Fellow - Summer 2022
Sam Stea
Bucknell University
Undergrad Intern - Summer 2022
TJ Wukitsch
Kansas State University
Lab Manager - 2021 to 2023
We moved!!! We’re still in beautiful downtown Charleston, SC but we moved to the Drug Discovery Building on the main MUSC campus in the Medical District.
Come work with us!
Email rinker@musc.edu!