Astra S. Bryant, PhD
Principal Investigator

Pronouns: she, hers

Astra is a sensory neuroethologist and a parasitologist. She entered the fields of nematode neuroscience and parasitology as a postdoc in the lab of Dr. Elissa Hallem at UCLA. She received her B.A. in Biology from Bryn Mawr College, and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Stanford University.

Outside of the lab, Astra enjoys cycling, playing softball, and painting the Pacific Ocean. Astra is aromantic and asexual; she usually describes her orientation as "a hard nope." 

Link to CV.
Link to publications.
Email: astrab@uw.edu

Ben Gregory
Lab Manager (Research Scientist/Engineer I)

Pronouns: he, his

As the lab manager for the Bryant Lab, Ben pokes a lot of worms and provides moral support to Dr. Bryant. His interest in nematode research started while earning his marine biology degree at the UW and has since skyrocketed as he catches up on every C. elegans and Strongyloides study to date.

Before moving indoors to work in the Bryant Lab, Ben was a member of the Team USA at the 2018 Sprint Canoe Kayak Junior World Championships. He also attended high school in a zoo. He now spends his time trying new recipes, practicing Mandarin, and bouldering at SBP.

Email: btg13@uw.edu

Sabrina Cheng
Graduate Student

Pronouns: she, hers

Sabrina’s always learning something new and her journey is full of surprises. She’s been involved with neutrino research since her first year at MIT, pursued a playful design internship in France, and took 12 language classes in 6 languages. Now in her second year of physics graduate school she’s exploring neuroscience. Oh the places she’ll go.

Her other passion is traveling to meet new people and try local cuisine, but her plans took a turn when she adopted a puppy. Now she shares her love of language (and spends most of her time) training her dog, Kaiyu. 

Mariam Desouky
Undergraduate Researcher

Pronouns: she, hers

Mariam is a biology major who loves exploring the diversity of life forms. After going through some wild adventures working at a psychiatric hospital, she decided to take a break from humans and work with worms. The complexity of parasitic life cycles and the potential for developing interventions has captured her attention, as she hopes to work in the medical field some day. 

In her free time, she enjoys going to the gym, coaching soccer, and hitting the slopes to ski. She also loves traveling.

Jaidyn Slaughter
High School Student Researcher

Jaidyn joined the Bryant Lab as a 2023 summer intern through the BRIGHT-UP program.