Director

Jefferson W. Kinney Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology, UNLV


Dr. Kinney earned his Ph.D. in 2000 from Colorado State University. He was then awarded an Intramural Research Training Fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health working in the Section of Behavioral Genetics directed by Dr. Jacqueline Crawley. Research topics in the laboratory focused on both behavioral pharmacology projects as well as extensive behavioral phenotyping of several transgenic mouse models. In October of 2003 Dr. Kinney was awarded the Helen Dorris Fellowship in schizophrenia research in the Department of Neuropharmacology at The Scripps Research Institute in the laboratory of Dr. Tamas Bartfai. Research projects in the laboratory focused on the cellular and molecular alterations in not only schizophrenia but also several other neurological disorders. In August of 2007 Dr. Kinney joined the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

Graduate Students

Jonathan Sabbagh

Jonathan entered the Experimental program in 2007 with a B.S. in Neuroscience from Tulane University. His research interests include animal models of Alzheimer's disease and learning and memory.

Contact Jon: sabbaghj@unlv.nevada.edu

Chelcie Heaney

Chelcie received her B.A. in Psychology and Biology from Boston University and joined the Experimental Psychology program in the fall of 2009. She is primarily interested in mechanisms of GABA and learning, as well as drugs and behavior.

Contact Chelcie: heaneyc@unlv.nevada.edu

Monica Bolton

Monica graduated from UNLV with a B.S. in Biology/Pre-Medicine and a B.A. in Psychology. She started the Experimental Psychology program in the fall of 2010 with an emphasis in Neuroscience. Her research focuses on neurodevelopmental animal models of schizophrenia.

Contact Monica: boltonm@unlv.nevada.edu

Andrew Murtishaw

Andrew graduated from UNLV with a B.A. in Psychology. He started the Experimental Psychology program in the fall of 2011with an emphasis in Neuroscience. His research interests include animal models of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Contact Andrew: murtisha@unlv.nevada.edu

Head Research Assistant

Christy Magcalas

Christy is a senior undergraduate student and is pursuing a degree in Psychology. She is expected to graduate in May 2012 and is currently applying for graduate school. Christy intends to acquire her Masters and PhD in experimental psychology focusing on behavioral neuroscience.

Contact Christy: magcala4@unlv.nevada.edu

Lab Personnel

Lab members from left to right:
(Front) Dr. Jefferson Kinney, Jonathan Sabbagh, Christopher Paragnan, Stephanie Olson, Megan Buckley, Monica Bolton, Andrew Murtishaw, Chelcie Heaney (Back) Kimberly Maribbay, Liz Wright, Rana Khanbolo, Kelsey Wakuzawa, Arianna Rodriguez, Brian Trinh, and Christy Magcalas

Previous Lab Photos

Lab members from left to right:
(Front) Dale Golding, Liz Wright, Stephanie Olson, Monica Bolton, Jonathan Sabbagh, Chelcie Heaney, Andrew Murtishaw (Back) Isaac Santa Ana, Sahar Azim, Jennifer Ure, Kyle Dayton, Kimberly Maribbay, Charmaine Loja, Rana Khanbolo (not pictured: Lea Estefanos and Bradley Davey)

Lab members from left to right:
(Front) Jennifer Ure, Elyse Safko, Sahar Azim, Raisa Hinck (Back) Jonathan Sabbagh, Chelcie Heaney, Monica Bolton, Andrew Murtishaw, Dr. Jefferson Kinney, Isaac Santa Ana (not pictured: Arianna Rodriguez and Maxym Myroshnychenko)

Lab members from left to right:
(Front) Kara Thompson, Tara Farah, Tiffany Ambrose, Isaac Santa Ana, (Back) Chelcie Heaney, Andrew Murtishaw, Dr. Jefferson Kinney, Monica Bolton, Jon Sabbagh

Lab members from left to right:
Kara Thompson, Tara Farah, Tiffany Ambrose, Monica Bolton, Cris Neblina, Jon Sabbagh, Farhood Forooghi, Erik Ringdahl, Isaac Santa Ana

Director - Dr. Jefferson Kinney

Graduate Students - Jonathan Sabbagh, Chelcie Heaney, Monica Bolton, Andrew Murtishaw

Current Research Assistants - Kim Maribbay, Liz Wright, Rana Khanbolo, Stephanie Olson, Christy Magcalas, Megan Buckley, Brian Trinh, Kelsey Wakuzawa, Christopher Paragnan, Arianna Rodriguez

Previous Research Assistants - Nathan Van Arsdale, Micah Nicole King, Cris Neblina, Erik Ringdahl, Farhood Forooghi, Tara Farah, Kara Thompson, Sarah Tomlinson, Tiffany Ambrose, Davina Shebah, Eddie Kresyman, Nadia Ayala, Alexander Gill, Cheng Yang, Maxym Myroshnychenko, Raisa Hinck, Elyse Safko, Kyle Dayton, Bradley Davey, Sahar Azim, Isaac Santa Ana, Jennifer Ure, Dale Golding, Charmaine Loja, Lea Estefanos

Website Designers - Nathan Van Arsdale & Jonathan Sabbagh