Kyle Cekada

Graduate Student

Advisor

Research Area

Neuroscience and Behavior

Biography

I earned my B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, CA. After graduating from Cal Poly, I joined Dr. Yi Gu’s Lab at the National Institutes of Health as a postbaccalaureate fellow to investigate how spatial navigation is encoded in the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) and how tauopathy affects the MEC. In 2025, I joined Dr. Ikuko Smith’s lab and started the PBS PhD program. In my free time, I enjoy weightlifting, playing sports, and spending time at the beach.

Research

I am studying tauopathy in the visual cortex and the effects of tauopathy on dendrites. I am also interested in how mitochondria are involved in dendritic activity. My research involves techniques such as viral injections, two-photon microscopy, and immunohistochemistry.

Keywords: Tauopathy, dendrites, two-photon imaging, immunohistochemistry