People

Dr. Lin Mei, Professor and Chair, Department of Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Allen C. Holmes Professor of Neurological Diseases, Department of Neurology

Dr. Lin Mei is Professor and Chair, Department of Neurosciences, Allen C. Holmes Professor, and Inaugural Director, Cleveland Brain Health Initiative (CBHI), Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.  

Dr. Mei graduated from Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University. After earning PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology at University of Arizona, Dr. Mei went to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for postdoctoral training. He was on faculty at University of Virginia; University of Alabama at Birmingham; and Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University where he was the Inaugural Chair of Department of Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine.  

Dr. Mei is interested in synapse formation and functions. His lab has revealed molecular mechanisms of the assembly and maintenance of the neuromuscular junction and identified biomarkers such as anti-LRP4 antibodies for myasthenia gravis. In addition, Dr. Mei and his colleagues have uncovered physiological functions and pathological mechanisms of risk genes that are implicated in brain disorders including schizophrenia, autism, and major depression. They found that the neuregulin 1-ErbB4 signaling is critical to homeostasis of brain activity by controlling GABA release. Dr. Mei has received numerous awards including Distinguished Investigator from National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression and Mathilde Solowey Away from Foundation for Advanced Education in Sciences. Dr. Mei was elected as Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science and Fellow of American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP).

Emily Arzola

Graduate Student

Emily received her B.S. in Psychology from Texas State University in San Marcos, TX in 2018. She is interested in studying astrocyte function and the role of glia in neurodegeneration, particularly Alzheimer’s Disease.

Wangpeng Cui, PhD

Research Scientist

Wanpeng Cui received his Ph.D. at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan. Wanpeng is interested in development and circuits related to dopaminergic system. He is al working on neural circuits of psychiatric diseases.

Peng Chen

Visiting Scholar

Peng received his Master degree at Nanchang University, China. Specifically, Peng is interested in Neuromuscular Junction formation and its related diseases.

Mei Lab

Zhaoqi Dong, PhD

Post Doc

Zhaoqi Dong just received his PhD at Case Western Reserve University in Neurosciences. He is now continuing in exploring the unknowns in neurodevelopmental disorders and neuropsychological diseases in the same lab

Arihant Kalidindi

Undergraduate Student

Class of 2022. Cognitive Science major at Case Western on a pre-med track. His current topic of research concerns the factors released during exercise which mediate brain health. When not in the lab or classroom, he likes to spend my time cycling and baking/cooking.

Mei Lab

Heath Robinson

Graduate Student

Heath received his B.S. in Biology and Psychology from the University of Georgia. He is interested in how the network and circuit mechanisms of the brain are impacted by both the cellular and molecular underpinnings of the brain. Specifically, Heath has focused on how NRG1 and ErbB4 regulate network and circuit mechanisms via their impact on GABAergic transmission.

Isaac McCarthy

Undergraduate Student

Class of 2022. Biochemistry and Psychology at CWRU’s School of Arts and Sciences. After completing my undergraduate degree at CWRU, he plans on studying Neuropharmacology at the graduate level. My research interests include the biological foundations of neurological disorders and current pharmacological therapeutic interventions

Ivan Santiago

Graduate Student

Ivan received his B.S. in General Biology From the University Of Puerto Rico-Humacao. He is interested in understating the role of post-translational modifications in particular phosphorylation and neurotransmission.

Chen Shen

Graduate Student

Chen finished his undergraduate study in the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China. He came to Mei lab for PhD study in 2018 and he is interested in unveiling brain circuits for cognitive processing.

Hongsheng Wang, PhD

Post Doc

Hongsheng Wang is interested in the circuit and molecular mechanisms of pain and depression. He has paid extra attention to NRG1 and ErbB4, both of which ligand-receptor pair have been revealed by GWAS analysis of the depression patient.

Zhibing Tan, PhD

Research Scientist

Zhibing received his PhD in Neuroscience from the Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He joined the Mei lab in 2014. His main interest is the circuits mechanisms of cognitive behaviors in both health and disease.

Guanglin Xing, PhD

Research Scientist

Guanglin received his Ph.D at Southeast University, China. He joined the Mei lab at Augusta University in Georgia in 2015 to pursue postdoc training. In 2017, he relocated to Case Western Reserve University with Mei lab to continue to explore neuromuscular junction formation and related diseases.

WenJun Zou, PhD

Post Doc

Wenjun received his Ph.D. at Southern Medical University, China. Wenjun is specifically interested in emotion, stress and social behavior.