The Team
Drew Kiraly, MD, PhD
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor, Physiology, Pharmacology & Psychiatry
Attending Physician, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
Co-Director, Center for Addition Research, Wake Forest School of Medicine
Drew received his MD and PhD degrees from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He performed his doctoral thesis work in the laboratory of Dr. Betty Eipper studying dendritic spine dynamics, behavioral response to drugs of abuse, and cell-surface receptor trafficking in relation to the post-synaptic Rho-GEF Kalirin-7. From this work, Drew published numerous manuscripts, and was awarded a prestigious F30 NRSA Fellowship from NIDA to support his research efforts. During his clinical clerkships Drew received the Bloomberg Award for medical student excellence in psychiatry.
Drew enrolled in the Psychiatry Residency at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and in addition to being Chief Resident for the final two years of his training, he also completed a research fellowship in the lab of Dr. Eric Nestler. During his time in the lab he developed his own research program examining the role of neuroimmune interactions and the gut microbiome in addiction, autism spectrum disorder and depression. In addition to multiple first and senior-author publications he was awarded an ACNP Memorial Travel Award, was selected to the NIMH Outstanding Resident Award Program, was chosen as a Leon Levy Fellow in Neuroscience, and a Seaver Family Foundation Fellow.
In addition to running the lab, Drew works as a physician in the emergency room of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Hospital, and sees a very limited number of patients in private practice.
Contact Drew:
email: dkiraly@wakehealth.edu twitter: @KiralyLab
Rebecca Hofford, PhD
Assistant Professor
NIDA K01 Awardee
Rebecca Hofford got her PhD from Texas A&M in 2012 where she studied the effects of social environment on adolescent sensitivity to morphine. She continued her career as a postdoc at the University of Kentucky studying the mechanisms underlying the attenuation of drug reinforcement caused by environmental enrichment. Her academic journey brought her across the United States to New York City where she joined the Kiraly Lab and moved with the lab to North Carolina. In her spare time, she enjoys free yoga classes, reading “non-science” things, binge watching Netflix, hiking, skiing, and fully embracing her inner cat lady.
Contact Becca: rhofford@wakehealth.edu
Huiping Ding, PhD
Research Scientist
Huiping received her PhD from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she continued as a postdoc. In her doctoral and postdoctoral research, she studied the roles of key proteins involved in the molecular and cellular biology of neurodegenerative diseases. After joining Wake Forest School of Medicine as a research scientist, she expanded her research into the behavioral pharmacology of pain and itch. She is excited to join the Kiraly Lab to explore new research territory. In her time outside of the lab, she enjoys brisk walking, cooking, and volunteering at local nonprofit organizations.
Contact Huiping: hding@wakehealth.edu
Jonathon Sens
PhD Student
Jonathon Sens graduated with dual BS degrees in Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Dayton in 2016. He received several prestigious national awards, including the Research for Undergraduates fellowship from the National Science Foundation as well as the Barry Goldwater Scholarship. After graduation, he joined the Mayo Clinic Biomedical Graduate Research program under the supervision of Dr. John D. Fryer with major projects centered on the role of the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk gene, ApoE, on the microglial response to AD-associated neuropathology. In the Kiraly Lab, Jonathon is utilizing multimodal techniques to uncover the contributions of both peripheral and central immunity the development and progression of opioid use disorder. As a recovering alcoholic, Jonathon is excited to utilize his research talents to help others that still suffer from substance use disorders.Jonathon enjoys spending his free time taking care of his dogs Anna and Elsa and binge-watching Netflix.
Contact Jonathon: jsens@wakehealth.edu
Marta Koperska
PhD Student
Marta Koperska received her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience from Drexel University in 2016, where her thesis explored the relationship between assisting individuals with substance use disorder and resulting attitudes toward the etiology of addiction. Following her undergraduate studies, Marta worked with Dr. Michael Platt's group at the University of Pennsylvania, conducting fieldwork on rhesus macaques. She then transitioned to Arizona State University as a Research Specialist, contributing to multi-omic analyses of the aging primate brain. Currently a Ph.D. student, Marta integrates behavioral and proteomic approaches to understand the neurobiology of substance use disorders and identify treatment targets. Outside of research, she enjoys gardening, caring for her cats and houseplants, solving jigsaw puzzles, and cooking Polish food.
Dannis Cazarez
PhD Student
Dannis is a recent May 2022 graduate from Johns Hopkins University with a B.A. in Cognitive Science, concentrating on neuroscience and computational methods and a minor in Earth and planetary sciences. Dannis’ previous research experiences involved studying brain network community structure differences in older versus younger adults and a preclinical drug study targeting inflammatory signaling and oxidative stress in aging non-human primates. Her research interests lie in the interactions between the immune system and nervous system, mechanisms of neuroinflammation, aging brain, and Alzheimer’s disease. When she does have spare time she loves to bake, handcraft jewelry, and watch comedy shows. She is obsessed with sloths and toy poodles!
Calista Dean
PhD Student
Calista graduated with her B.S. in Biomedical Chemistry from Morehead State University in 2022 where her undergraduate research focused on optimizing HPLC, NMR, and GC-MS protocols for the detection of analytes in electronic cigarettes, as well as studying sex differences in cocaine self-administration. Following graduation, Calista joined Dr. Levi Beverly’s lab at the University of Louisville to research experimental copper therapeutics for blood and lung cancers, as well as elucidating mechanisms of the ubiquitin proteosome pathway in cancer progression. Currently a PhD student in the Kiraly lab, Calista is interested in the peripheral immune system’s role in the development of opioid use disorder and other neuropsychiatric conditions. You can catch her outside of lab foraging for mushrooms, singing along to Broadway musicals, writing poetry, and playing volleyball!
Greg Boyer
Masters Student
Greg is a masters student in neuroscience in the lab. He was previously a research associate at Yale School of Medicine in Psychiatry.
Nicholas Olidis
Masters Student
Abby Mastrantoni Technician
Abby graduated from Villanova University in May 2023 with a B.S. in Biology. She spent a year working as a research technician in the Department of Anesthesiology and joined the Kiraly Lab in June 2024. She plans to start medical school in the fall of 2025. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, trivia nights, and reading.
Matthew Eber Technician
Braelyn Howard
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Braelyn is a sophomore student at Wake Forest University pursuing her B.S. in Health & Exercise Science with minors in Chemistry and Health Policy & Administration. She plans on attending medical school after graduation. In the Kiraly Lab she works as an undergraduate research assistant focused on projects looking at gut-brain signaling in models of substance use disorder. In her spare time, Braelyn enjoys running, tutoring children, and teaching swim lessons.
Taylor McCabe
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Taylor graduated from Wake Forest University in May 2024 with a double major B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy. She spent the last year working in the Kiraly Lab as an undergraduate student. Taylor plans to start graduate school in psychology in the fall of 2025. In her free time she enjoys listening to music, playing instruments, and reading philosophy.
Vibha Udayakumar
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Vibha is a sophomore at Wake Forest double majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Health and Exercise Sciences. After graduation, she plans on attending medical school. Outside of the lab, she works as an EMT, volunteers at the hospital, and is a sports medicine intern for the football team. In her free time, she enjoys playing sports, photography, and traveling.
Lab Alumni
Post Doctoral Fellows and Graduate Students
Aya Osman, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Seaver Foundation Fellow
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Lab Technicians
2017-2018 Nicholas Mervosh
2019-2021 Tanner Euston
2021-2022 Ava Shipman
2021-2022 Sharon Zeldin
2022-2023 Jonathon Sens
2022-2024 Elizabeth Wiser
2023-2023 Weston Brooks
Undergraduates and High School Students
Tanner Euston, 2018-2019
Supervised honors thesis at Drew University
Emanuel Mordechaev, 2018-2019
Hunter College undergraduate
Ray Verdi, 2018-2020
Hunter College undergraduate
Gillian Zipursky, Summer 2019
Swarthmore College undergraduate
Amon Orr, 2019
Oakland University undergraduate
Nicholas Tukuru, 2019-2021
Honors high school student at Ossining High School
Samuel Mordechaev, 2019-2021
Hunter College undergraduate
Jawad Baig, 2019-2021
Hunter College undergraduate
Violet Kimble, 2020-2022
Drew University undergraduate
Christina Coric, 2022-2024
Wake Forest undergraduate
Weston Brooks, 2022-2023
Wake Forest undergraduate
Taylor McCabe, 2023 – 2024
Wake Forest undergraduate