USC Undergraduate Neuroscience Program

Lisa Tchitchkan is a junior double-majoring in neuroscience and Spanish. She has been a member of Dr. Dion Dickman’s lab for over two years, where her project focuses on the application of superresolution STED microscopy to characterizing protein interactions within the presynaptic terminal, both under wild type and mutant conditions. Apart from school and research, she enjoys volunteering through USC Interaxon, Spanglish, and Trojan Health Interpretation Services. In her free time, Lisa can always be found outside — whether that be running, playing tennis, surfing, or hiking.
Lisa is truly honored to have been selected as this year’s recipient of the Brian Phillip Rakusin Scholarship Award. She is especially thankful for the support of Dr. Dickman and the wonderful research team she has the privilege of working with.

Arun is a junior majoring in Neuroscience. In Dr. Kanoski’s lab, Arun has been investigating how the brain is negatively impacted by dietary and metabolic factors.  Specifically, consumption of Western diets (high in saturated fats and sugars) produces deficits in learning and memory He plans to attend medical school and pursue surgery. In his free time, he loves to be outside playing soccer, mountain biking, and surfing.

Special thanks to Anna Hayes, Logan Tierno Lauer, Alicia Kao, Molly Klug, Linda Tsan, Keshav Subramanian, Jessica Rea, Kristen Donohue, Lea Decarie-Spain, Scott Kanoski, and the rest of the team for their assistance. Arun is very grateful for receiving this award and hopes that this research can someday be used to inform decisions on healthy living.