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Editor’s Note

Thomas Romanchek
 Chief-Editor

Thomas is a sophomore double majoring in Bioengineering 
and Psychology and does research with the Cellular 
Neuroscience Imaging Lab on campus. He is an editor for 
IJOIS and an active member of the Beckman Journal Club, two 
experiences which inspired him to start this journal. He is very 
excited to introduce “Brain Matters” to the UIUC community 
and hopes to broaden undergraduate interest in the field!

Fiza Bukhari
Assistant Chief-Editor

Fiza is a freshman majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology 
on the pre-med track. In addition to her involvement in the 

Neuroscience Journal Committee, she communicates her 
Illinois experience by writing for the UIUC Admissions Blog. 

Just like her blog, she is thrilled to promote a neuroscience 
dialogue on campus!  

Neil Doherty
Editor

Neil is a Freshman 
Molecular and Cellular 
Biology Major hoping to 
achieve the MCB Certificate 
in Neuroscience. He is 
a writer and editor for 
the “Brain Matters”, as 
well as a member of the 
Undergraduate Psychology 
Association and the 
Philosophy Club at UIUC. 
He hopes to engage and 
inform the public about new 
advances in neuroscience, 
providing the foundation 
for sustained progress in 
science and medicine while 
also inspiring interest in the 
field in the student body of 
UIUC.

Laura Kilikevicius
Editor

Laura is a freshman 
majoring in biology and 

hopes to one day move 
into work in genetics. She 

is thrilled to be working on 
“Brain Matters” and hopes 
to broaden the knowledge 

of current neuroscience 
research across campus. 

Outside of the journal, she 
is an orientation leader on 

campus and is a Catholic 
Illini and Lithuanian-

American club member.

Emerson Fister
Editor

Emerson is a junior majoring in 
Psychology with a concentration 
in Behavioral Neuroscience and 
a minor in Integrative Biology. 

Outside of learning about 
Neuroscience, she is passionate 
about human-centered design 
and is an active member of the 
University of Illinois Design for 
America studio. She is delighted 
to collaborate and learn with the 

other students behind “Brain 
Matters”.  

Neelima Valluru
Editor

Neelima Valluru is a freshman 
at UIUC double majoring in 
Computer Science and Biology. 
She is currently interning at the 
Catchen Lab on campus and 
is working on a computational 
genomics project. She is also 
a member of the BMES and 
ESAA clubs on campus.  She 
is very passionate about 
neuroscience and hopes to 
share current research in this 
fascinating field.

Quentin Bu
Chief of Design

Quentin Bu is a 
junior majoring in 

Intradisciplinary 
Psychology with a minor 

in Creative Writing. In 
addition to her interest in 

cognitive neuroscience, 
she has past experiences 

in art, poster and graphic 
design. Quentin hopes 

“Brain Matters” can 
provide a platform for an 

academic discussion about 
the field of study at UIUC. 

She also wishes readers 
will have an enjoyable 

reading experience.