In 2008 I graduated Medicine form “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, where I’ve been involved in studying brain’s electrical activity during cerebral ischemia, under the supervision of Dr. Mihai Moldovan and Prof. Leon Zagrean. After graduation, I moved to Oxford University with a Wellcome Trust scholarship for a 4-year program in Neuroscience (Master + PhD). In 2009 I graduated the Master in Neuroscience with Distinction and in 2013 I obtained my PhD under the supervision of Dr. Colin Akerman in the Department of Pharmacology, Oxford. I am currently Junior Research Fellow in Medical Sciences at University College Oxford.

Broadly speaking, my research is aimed towards understanding how the brain regulates its activity through balancing neuronal excitation and inhibition. I use a combination of electrophysiology, imaging and molecular techniques to study how inhibition is regulated at a cellular and molecular level under both normal conditions and during abnormal brain activity such as occurs in epilepsy.

I received the Youngest Romanian Researcher Award from the Ministry of Education and Research (2006) and the Romanian Student of the Year in Europe Award from the League of Romanian Students Abroad (2010). I am currently the President of the University of Oxford Cortex Club, a unique student-run forum for promoting and discussing cutting-edge neuroscience research (2012-2013).