News
Dissertation defenses, new papers, and lab life.
Muhammad Elsadany Successfully Defends PhD Dissertation
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Muhammad Elsadany, a Michaelson Lab graduate student, recently defended his thesis titled "Mechanistic Triangulation Across Molecular, Circuit, and Behavioral Scales"
Language ability traces back to DNA older than the human–Neanderthal split
Friday, April 24, 2026
A Science Advances study from the lab links ancient, fast-evolving regulatory DNA to differences in spoken language ability today.
New preprint on the genetics of migration
Friday, February 6, 2026
A genome-wide study of 250,000 people finds 20 regions linked to how far people move from home, with signals traceable in ancient DNA.
Lucas Casten successfully defends PhD dissertation
Friday, December 5, 2025
Lucas Casten, one of the Michaelson Lab graduate students, recently defended his thesis titled "What Makes us Human: Genomic Insights into Cognition, Language, Migration, and Mental Health"
Not all sleep problems in autism are the same
Sunday, April 6, 2025
Using reports from 5,686 SPARK families, a new preprint describes eight distinct sleep archetypes in autism and their genetic underpinnings.
Courtney Ries, undergraduate research assistant alumna, on the Michaelson Lab and life afterwards
Friday, March 21, 2025
In this spotlight of Courtney Ries, undergraduate research assistant alumna (graduated May 2024), she reflects on her time in the Michaelson Lab and how it prepared her to enter the biotechnology industry.
UI psychiatry graduate student Muhammad Elsadany decodes mental health data and his own identity
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
In this spotlight of Muhammad Elsadany, graduate research assistant in the Michaelson Lab, learn how he unravels the molecular and genetic basis of mental health, while also unraveling the meaning in his own personal identity.
Closer: Exceptional Processing
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
The lab of Jake Michaelson, PhD, uses advanced neuroimaging to learn more about brain function with twice-exceptional individuals.
Pagination