NICE TO MEET YOU!
I'M ALEX
PhD Student at NYU
brain evolution
neurological disorders
sex differences in the brain
gene expression
What I Do
I'm interested in the evolution of sex differences in primate cognition, neuroanatomy, and gene expression, and how these relate to the emergence of human neurological disorders. My dissertation will address this topic through both broad comparative analyses and targeted within-species studies. I will be considering multiple levels of brain organization, including functional brain region volumes, sulcal morphology, and gene expression.
Besides writing R code and looking at brains all day... I'm a passionate Teaching Assistant, and I mentor some wonderful ladies (who are sure to be future STEM leaders). Kimberly and I worked together to get her a DART research grant, and she just got accepted into the Teacher's College of Columbia! Talar is an aspiring engineer, avid Science Fair winner, and wonderful writer!
I am thankful for every day spent learning something new. Leaving Wall Street was the best decision I've ever made.
Click here to check out what my fantastic lab-mates are doing!
Funding/Collaborations
Thank you to everyone who supports me and my research!
Projects
A selection of papers and projects I was/am involved with:
Primate brain size is predicted by diet, not sociality
DeCasien, A.R., Williams, S.A., Higham, J.P. (2017). Primate brain size evolution is predicted by diet but not sociality. Nature Ecology and Evolution 1:0112.
Click here to read the paper, or here for a blog-style "behind the science" piece I wrote!
You can also go here or here for some great media coverage, and here to read a comment by Dr. Richard Wrangham!
Megalencephaly and macrocephaly genes are associated with comparative variation in primate brain size [abstract].
DeCasien, A.R., Yim, A. (2017). Megelencephaly and macrocephaly genes are associated with comparative variation in primate brain size [abstract]. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 162(S64): 159.
Click here to read more!
Primate energy requirements: brains, babies, or behavior?
DeCasien, A., Brown, M., Ross, S., Pontzer, H. (In press). In Primate Diet & Nutrition (Eds. Lambert, J., Rothman, J.) University of Chicago Press.
Sex and dominance rank effects on gene expression across the mouse brain
Collaboration with Dr. James Curley's lab at Columbia University
Sex and dominance rank effects on gene expression across the rhesus macaque brain
Collaboration with the Platt Lab, Smack Lab, and Caribbean Primate Research Center
Education
Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
New York University (NYU)
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) 2016-present
Biological Anthropology
Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
New York University (NYU)
Master of Arts (M.A.) 2014-2016
Biological Anthropology
Leonard N. Stern School of Business
New York University (NYU)
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) 2009-2013
Economics & Biological Anthropology
Natasha Kingsley © 2017