People

Principal Investigator

Dr. Christian J Peters

cjpeters@uic.edu

(he/him)

Dr. Peters started his lab at UIC in April 2019. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2012 with Eric Accili at the University of British Columbia, looking at the molecular biophysics of voltage-gated potassium channels in Xenopus laevis oocytes. He completed his postdoctoral work with Lily Jan at the University of California, San Francisco, looking at the functional properties of TMEM16A chloride channels and investigating possible roles they may play in neurons of the brain. He has published articles in top quality, peer-reviewed journals (including Neuron, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, and eLife) and is presently funded by an R00 grant from the NIH. He has an incurable lifetime fascination with anything related to ion channels, and will happily infect you with the same fascination.

Lab Personnel

Shana Netherton

Research Specialist

snethert@uic.edu

(she/her)

Shana joined the Peters Lab in July 2019. She received a master's degree in Biomedical Sciences from Colorado State University in 2014. Before moving to Chicago, she kindled a passion for anatomy and neuroanatomy through her teaching at Aims Community College in Greeley, Colorado, and has found a reflection of that passion in Dr. Peters' studies of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors of the brain. In her free time, she can often be found enjoying time with her husband and abundance of critters, cross stitching, or playing the latest installment of the Legend of Zelda.

Anabel M.M. Miguelez Fernandez, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Associate

anabelmf@uic.edu

(she/her)

Anabel is a research biologist trained in the University of Buenos Aires where she obtained a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. She joined the Peters Lab in August 2020, bringing her research experience and passion for rodents & brain physiology to the study of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in vivo. Her research project investigates the neuronal circuitry underlying nicotine seeking, avoidance and withdrawal behaviors.

Alex Brown

Graduate Researcher

abrow66@uic.edu

(he/him)

Alex is a graduate student in the Graduate Education in bioMedical Sciences (GEMS) program. He got his Bachelors in Neuroscience here at UIC after transferring with an Associates Degree from Rock Valley College in his hometown of Rockford, IL. After rotating in the Peters Lab in his first year, he joined the lab in the Summer of 2025. As an undergrad he did work on Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in the Glover Lab, and now is working on the role of α9α10 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in neuropathic pain. When not in class or lab, you'll probably find Alex playing video games, reading, or on his happiest days doing karaoke.

Sully Walker

Undergraduate Researcher

swalk38@uic.edu

(he/him)

Since being a youngin', Sully has been full of inquiry, always seeking to know how and why things work the way they do. He began studying biology on the pre-medicine track at UIC in Fall of 2024 and joined the Peters Lab as an undergraduate researcher near the end of the same year. Currently, Sully is primarily focused on investigating the functional consequences associated with the co-assembly of subunits Kv2.1 and Kv6.4 in voltage gated potassium channels within embryonic hippocampal cells. When he isn't studying or in the lab, you can find Sully on a hike, with his dog, or taking pictures.

Uriel Bahena-Hernandez

Undergraduate Researcher

ubahe@uic.edu

(he/him)

2026-Present

Sandy Mikhail

Undergraduate Researcher

smikh2@uic.edu

(she/her)

Sandy is a third year UIC student studying Integrated Health Studies on a Pre-Med track. She joined the lab in 2024 and works with mice in nicotine-withdrawal based behavior studies, including the FED3 sucrose pellet trials. When Sandy isn't in the lab, she can be found participating in different church services, enjoying music, or spending time with friends. She hopes to use her experiences at UIC and within the Peters Lab to enhance her capabilities as a well-rounded future physician.