Melissa Cooper is a mentor in the 2024 SURFiN program. She is a postdoctoral fellow in Moses Chao’s lab at New York University Langone Health. Cooper holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and psychology from Florida State University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Vanderbilt University. Her research focuses on mapping and functionally characterizing astrocytic networks across the brain through tissue clearing and advanced imaging techniques. Cooper is the recipient of the Leon Levy Postdoctoral Fellowship in Neuroscience and is a Scientist in Residence at the New York Academy of Science.

Principal Investigator: Moses Chao