Official Story
Christine holds a BS in Neural Science from New York University, where she did research in Mike Hawken's lab and was also a research technician in Lynne Kiorpes' lab. She received her PhD in Neurobiology and Behavior from Columbia University, working with Randy Bruno to study thalamocortical circuits in the rodent whisker system. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, with David Tank and Carlos Brody, where she studied decision-making in rats. She joined NYU as an Assistant Professor in the Center for Neural Science in 2019, and her research examines neural circuits supporting value-based decision-making. Christine has received a number of distinctions including the NIH Pathway to Independence Award, the NIH Director's New Innovator Award, the NSF CAREER Award, the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, and the Klingenstein-Simons Neuroscience Fellowship.
Unofficial Story
Christine grew up in New Jersey, with two siblings and many cousins in a large extended Italian-American family, which is the main reason she has not made it very far (geographically). She was very passionate about international relations and politics, and when she attended college at NYU, she interned in the local government, but became disillusioned about whether she could really make a difference in the public sector. At the same time, she serendipitously took a course called Brain & Behavior, which was taught by Mike Hawken. She loved it! She asked Mike if she could work in his lab, he agreed, and this experience changed her life. She switched her major to Neural Science, and her time as an undergrad at CNS was wonderful. She could not believe that academia was a viable career option (you can get paid to ask questions that you think are interesting, and also wear jeans to work?!), and she became fascinated by the culture and attended as many seminars as she could. By the end of her undergrad, she was set on going to grad school to study cortical circuits. She was accepted to several programs, but she decided to attend Columbia because she was dating someone in NYC. Shortly after starting grad school, Christine broke up with said boyfriend, but enjoyed her lab rotations. She then joined Randy Bruno's lab, which was a great fit for her technical and conceptual interests. In Randy's lab, Christine did 20 hour experiments that often yielded no data. Those experiments were grueling but earned her street cred. For her post-doc, she emailed David Tank and Carlos Brody, but they ignored her. So she went to SfN, hung out at the Tank lab posters, and introduced herself to David. Eventually they hired her to work on a new system for 2p imaging in rats. Christine learned a ton from this experience, but the experiments were extremely challenging. After struggling for several years, Christine felt that she would never get a job, was disillusioned with science and herself, and told her mentors that she was quitting. She applied to be an astronaut and considered other career options. Luckily, her mentors were kind enough to let her start a new project, and Christine was much happier and decided to stay in science. She was rejected from the space program, but she feels super fortunate to be back at CNS, and has really had fun setting up her lab and watching people's projects develop. She thinks the traits that have served her best are her resilience and sense of humor (mostly about herself).