Daniel Cardozo Pinto
Lammel Lab, MCB-NEU and Psychology Senior, 2017
Senior Honors Thesis: Characterization of Cre-recombinase Enzyme Expression in Transgenic Mouse Lines Used to Target the Major Neuromodulatory Systems of the Brain

Daniel Cardozo Pinto joined Stephen Lammel’s lab two years ago to learn how to use light-sensitive proteins to investigate the roles of neural circuits in diseases like depression and addiction. Since then, he's earned multiple honors and awards, including an Amgen Scholarship, SURF fellowship, Phi Beta Kappa membership, and ABRCMS and SACNAS travel grants to present his work at meetings. Recently, he was first author on a peer-reviewed paper, accepted for publication in Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior.

Pinto says, "I joined the Lammel lab two years ago to learn how to use light-sensitive proteins to investigate the roles of neural circuits in diseases like depression and addiction. I have gotten to lead my own project, present at two national conferences, and recently published my first scientific article as primary author. Research has been the most rewarding part of my time at Berkeley, and now I am on my way to a PhD!"

Professor Stephen Lammel says, “Daniel is a self-motivated, hardworking, independent, warm-hearted and always positive undergraduate student with tremendous potential to embark on an exciting career in science, and I see him to be a great role model for others.”

Pinto graduated this Spring, where he was awarded an I.L. Chaikoff Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements and excellence in research in the emphasis of Neurobiology. Pinto also recently received the ABRCMS Conference Outstanding Oral Presentation Award, the Harvard University Molecules, Cell & Organisms Graduate Recruitment Fellowship, the UC Berkeley Chancellor's Fellowship for Graduate Study, and he was awarded the Highest Distinction in General Scholarship at graduation.

He will be attending Stanford University starting this fall, where he'll be pursuing a PhD in neuroscience.