Team — Smith Lab @ Boston College

Caroline J. Smith, PhD

Principal Investigator

caroline.smith.3@bc.edu

Dr. Smith received her Ph.D. from Boston College, working in the lab of Dr. Alexa Veenema, in 2017. She then completed her postdoctoral fellowship in the lab of Dr. Staci Bilbo at the Lurie Center for Autism at Harvard Medical School and, subsequently, at Duke University.

Google Scholar Profile * CV

**William Taylor, PhD**
**Postdoctoral Fellow**
Dr. Taylor received his PhD in neuroscience from the University of Southern California, Children's Hospital Los Angeles. He worked in Dr. Brian Dias' lab studying the impact of stress hormones on cognition and neurobiology. He joined the Smith lab as a Postdoctoral Researcher in 2025.
Google Scholar Profile*

Maura Stoehr

PhD Student

Maura received her B.S. in Neuroscience from Georgia State University before joining the Smith Lab in January, 2023 and, subsequently, starting the PhD Program in September, 2023.

Anna Lally

PhD Student

Anna received her B.A. in Neuroscience and English from Wheaton College (MA). She joined the Smith Lab in June 2024, and started the PhD Program in September, 2025.

Brett Schmidt

PhD Student

Brett received his B.A in neuroscience from Bates College. He joined the Smith lab in September, 2026, starting the PhD program.

**Matthew Morales**
**Research Assistant**
Matt received his B.A. in Biology from Bowdoin College before joining the Smith Lab in June 2025.

**Colin Killgoar**
**Undergraduate Student**
Colin is a senior at Boston College conducting research in the Smith Lab.

**Elif Yigit**
**Undergraduate Student**
Elif is a senior at Boston College conducting research in the Smith Lab.

**Lizbeth Gonzalez**
**Undergraduate Student**
Lizbeth is a senior at Boston College conducting research in the Smith Lab.

**Vir Rami**
**Undergraduate Student**
Vir is a senior at Boston College conducting research in the Smith Lab.

Alumni

Dr. Anthony Djerdjaj, PhD - Postdoctoral Researcher, now Senior Scientist at AstraZeneca
Elise Martin - Research Assistant, now PhD student at Vanderbilt University
Joy Babaloa - Undergraduate student ‘25, now MS student at Boston University
Matt Kern - Undergraduate student ‘25, now PhD student at University of Michigan
Madeline Winters - Undergraduate student ‘25, now Research Associate at Holobiome
Niki Li - Undergraduate student ‘25, now PhD student at University of Pittsburgh
Jason Xue - Undergraduate student ‘25, now intern at the Center for Public Science Learning at the Museum of Science
Sarvin Bhagwagar - Undergraduate student, now undergraduate student at Cornell University
Odette Amoakohene - Undergraduate student ‘26, applying to medical school
Yudam Chang - Undergraduate student ‘26, now research assistant at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Alejandro Ferreto - Undergraduate student ‘26, applying to medical school
Joyce Hao - Undergraduate student, now undergraduate student at University of California, Berkeley.