Ivan J. Santiago, PhD

Ivan J. Santiago, PhD, is Puerto Rican and was raised in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx. He attended the City College of New York, where he obtained both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology. Next, he attended Harvard University, where he earned a PhD in neurobiology. During this time, Dr. Santiago earned the 2016 Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Gilliam fellowship.

Dr. Santiago’s doctoral studies were aimed at determining the design principles underlying neuronal wiring during development. Dr. Santiago is now a post-doctoral fellow in the Palavicino-Maggio laboratory at McLean, where he hopes to uncover the neuronal circuitry underlying aggression. Alzheimer’s disease patients exhibit excessive aggression and Dr. Santiago hopes to understand the mechanisms that link disease and behavior.