Ha Dong

For me, home is: Hanoi, Vietnam

Prior degree(s): Math, Physics, Neuroscience at Amherst College

Research experience before PiN: At Vanderbilt University with Dr. Jens Meiler, I applied graph neural networks to predict novel drug candidates and worked on benchmarking methodology for small‑molecule discovery. I then joined Dr. Markus Meister’s lab at Caltech to study internal state dynamics during naturalistic, visually guided hunting in mice, followed by work in Dr. Venkatesh Murthy’s lab on olfactory‑guided navigation. My Amherst College thesis in the Trapani Lab studied the kinematics and circuit motifs that scaffold flexible escape decision.

Current research interests: data-driven computational neuroscience, naturalistic behavior, neuroAI, ML/DL

Interests outside lab: photography, hiking, lifting, running, music, movies