The LRC’s ongoing research program is made possible by a fantastic team of dedicated research coordinators, veterinarians, and animal care staff. Researchers and staff work closely to maintain high standards of animal care and high standards of scientific integrity at the facility.
Research Coordinators
Kelly Leverett – Research Coordinator, CEBUS lab Kelly is the CEBUS lab’s research coordinator, whose main duties are designing coding projects for undergraduate students and aiding graduate students on the development and execution of their studies. Her ongoing research interests include observations of social dynamics within our capuchin colonies, variations of economic game testing, and replicating many of the CEBUS lab’s studies with human children. Her previous research has focused on economic decision-making, including studying inequity aversion and game theory in several primate species. Kelly first began working in the CEBUS Lab in 2010 as an undergraduate student at GSU, and continued as a research assistant following her graduation with a B.S. in Psychology in 2012. |
Robert Vera – Research Coordinator, CEBUS/COMIC labs Robert aids in all ongoing research projects, facilitates apparatus design and maintenance, and coordinates scheduling of scientific activities at the LRC. Robert earned a B.A. from Providence College in 2020. While an undergraduate, he aided in studies about Barnes maze cognitive strategies in rodents and he trained rodents in odor-based delayed match to sample (DMTS) tests. From 2020-2022 he was a Research Specialist at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine where he aided with data collection and experimental design of rodent behavioral tasks testing memory and attention in rodent models of Alzheimer’s disease. |
Core Veterinary Staff
Dr. Michael Hart – Director of the Division of Animal Resources
Dr. Rex Howard – Assistant Director of Clinical Services.
Division of Animal Resources Staff
Dean Blake – Associate Director of the Division of Animal Resources
Michael Morrison – Assistant Director of the Division of Animal Resources
Julia Fedorov – Laboratory Animal Technician
Cameron Jones – Laboratory Animal Technician
Shanta Smith – Laboratory Animal Technician
Theresa Deaton – Laboratory Animal Technician