CELLAS ARI'KA HAYES, PHD

My Journey

I am a neuroscientist advancing my training in the Mormino Lab at Stanford University as a Propel Postdoctoral Scholar. I received my PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences with an emphasis in Pharmacology from the University of Mississippi. As a graduate trainee, I was a Southern Regional Education Board Scholar at the University of Mississippi and a Smith Scholar at the Graduate Training Educational Center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. I also served in several multi-cultural capacities at the University of Mississippi such as being a graduate student ambassador and the graduate student representative on the School of Pharmacy’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. My most noteworthy accomplishment of graduate school was receiving the first NRSA F31 from NIH at the University of Mississippi in 37 years and being the first black trainee to receive the award at the institution. As a doctoral trainee, I studied how neuroendocrine modulators such as IGF-1 in both glial cells and neurons combat neurological and physical deficits caused by ischemic stroke. For my postdoctoral training, I chose to advance my training in the Mormino laboratory which studies preclinical Alzheimer's disease using neuroimaging modalities. Specifically, I am now utilizing neuroimaging modalities like MRI, amyloidPET, and tauPET to understand the aging brain and preclinical Alzheimer's Disease. In addition, I work with large datasets better understand which neuropathologies are associated with cognitive decline with a particular interest in vascular disease.