Alexander Brinkley

Biography

Alex earned his BS in Biology at UC Riverside in 2021 and studied the molecular biology, biochemistry, and behavior ecology of bees. Alex researched the behavior and physiology of bees in relation to pesticides and adaptability for 5 years before spending a year at the UC Los Angeles AIDS Institute where he worked on developing novel anti-HIV-1 gene therapies for HIV. Following his time at UCLA, Alex came to UC Santa Barbara to study under Ikuko Smith and research the cellular mechanisms by which neural circuitry process information. Alex is an avid photographer, and outside of the laboratory you can find him hunting for the best sunsets at the beach.

Research

At UCSB, Alex is a Dynamical Neuroscience graduate student studying under Ikuko Smith, where he researches dendritic integration in inhibitory interneurons using 2-photon in vivo imaging, optogenetics, and neural computational modeling. Alex is excited to further investigate the cellular mechanisms of dendritic inhibition using real-time in vivo electrophysiology techniques to better understand the role of neuronal dendrites in sensory integration and information processing.