Meet the Team

The Shabel Lab is driven by a passionate group of researchers, postdocs, and students dedicated to understanding the lateral habenula.

Current Members

Dr. Steven Shabel

Principal Investigator

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Dr. You-Hsin Lin

Postdoctoral Researcher

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Dr. Volodymyr Rybalchenko

Postdoctoral Researcher

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Ian Nelson

Graduate Student

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Hailey Arias

Research Technician

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Luqman Moton

Research Assistant

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Vikram Katari

Research Assistant

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Lab Alumni

Postdoctoral Fellows

Chris Botanas

Postdoctoral Fellow (2022-2025)

Amy Loriaux

Postdoctoral Fellow (2018)

MD/PhD Students

Laura Yuan

MD/PhD Student (2021-2023)

Graduate Students

Srijani Biswas

Graduate Student (2019-2025)

Lupita Rios

Graduate Student (2020-2025) | Research Assistant (2018-2019)

Natalia Rodríguez-Sosa

Graduate Student (2018-2024)

Research Assistants

Yash Sharma

Research Assistant (2022-2026)

Alaa Hajeissa

Research Assistant (2019)

Undergraduates & Interns

Fizza Jeddy

UTD Intern (2024-2025)

Abdiaziz Abdalla

UTD Intern (2025)

Aiden Geleta

SURF and Amgen Scholor (2024)

Raghav Rajesh

UTD Intern (2022-2023)

Sravya Thotakura

Green Fellow and UTD Intern (2023)

Rohan Jupelly

UTD Intern (2023)

Vishal Narla

UTD Intern (2018-2019)

Anna Wilson

SURF Intern (2019)

Daniela Barbosa

SURF Intern (2018)

Nina Bharadwaj

UTD Intern (2018)

Dr. Steven Shabel

Principal Investigator

About

Dr. Shabel was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He received his bachelor's degree in biology from the University of California San Diego and Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California San Francisco, where he worked with Patricia Janak. For his postdoctoral work, he returned to UCSD, where he worked with Roberto Malinow. Steve started the lab in the Department of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern in 2017.

Dr. You-Hsin Lin

Postdoctoral Researcher

About

You-Hsin received his bachelor's and master's degree from School of Veterinary Medicine of National Taiwan University. He then spent two years at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of National Taiwan University investigating translational regulation with single-molecule techniques. He received his Ph.D degree from Nagoya University, elucidating the molecular basis of passive avoidance learning using viral-mediated manipulation of signaling in the nucleus accumbens. As a postdoc, You-Hsin is learning patch-clamp electrophysiology and in vivo imaging and looks forward to applying what he learns into translational medicine.

Current Projects

A synaptic mechanism for creating and diversifying reinforcement signals
A depression-circuit enriched GPCR for targeted pharmacotherapy:
The Functional Organization of The Lateral Habenula and its Relationship to MDD (Depression)

Dr. Volodymyr Rybalchenko

Postdoctoral Researcher

About

Volod focuses on circuit mapping, electrophysiology, and coordinating advanced experimental protocols to understand behavioral adaptations to stress.

Current Projects

A synaptic mechanism for creating and diversifying reinforcement signals
A depression-circuit enriched GPCR for targeted pharmacotherapy:

Ian Nelson

Graduate Student

About

I'm Ian Nelson, part of the awesome team in Dr. Shabel's lab at UT Southwestern. My journey started in the U.S. Special Forces, where I honed serious skills in discipline and focused, consistent effort—skills I'm now leveraging in neuroscience research. Over the past year, I've conducted over 400 stereotactic surgeries to deliver various viruses to the brain, deeply exploring Alzheimer's research and memory retrieval circuits. I've recently been accepted to UTSW's PhD program in neuroscience, where I'm eager to unravel the neural mechanisms behind stress, habits, and traumatic memories. When I'm not in the lab, you can find me diving into topics like strength training, muscle growth, online income generation, and communication skills, or hitting the gym. I'm also actively learning and applying business skills to help others live their best lives.

Current Projects

A synaptic mechanism for creating and diversifying reinforcement signals

Hailey Arias

Research Technician

About

Hailey received her bachelor's degree in Neuroscience, with a minor in Spanish, from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. She spent her four years there conducting research in an undergrad lab involved in addiction and dopaminergic pathways. She joined the Shabel Lab in 2025 as a research technician and has been focusing on the role of the lateral habenula and GPR-151 in depression-related behavior, reward learning, and downstream effects. Outside of the lab, Hailey enjoys traveling, exploring new restaurants/bars, and shopping.

Current Projects

Neural Mechanisms of Affective Bias
A depression-circuit enriched GPCR for targeted pharmacotherapy

Luqman Moton

Research Assistant

About

Luqman develops automated behavioral training setups connecting MATLAB and Bonsai software to fiber photometry equipment for pessimism-based mouse models. He also manages genotyping projects for specific lab lines.

Current Projects

Neural Mechanisms of Affective Bias
The Functional Organization of The Lateral Habenula and its Relationship to MDD (Depression)

Vikram Katari

Research Assistant

About

Vikram is a member of the Collegium V Honors Program at The University of Texas at Dallas, where he is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience. He joined the Shabel Lab as an undergraduate researcher in 2026 and works closely with Dr. You-Hsin Lin to characterize lateral habenula neurons and investigate their role in reward processing. Through this work, he is developing skills in advanced neuroscience techniques. Vikram hopes to become a physician and contribute to translational neuroscience research. Outside of the lab, he enjoys playing basketball and pickleball, trying new restaurants, and spending time with friends and family.

Current Projects

The Functional Organization of The Lateral Habenula and its Relationship to MDD (Depression)