Diana Neacsu (second from left) with her thesis committee (L-R); Dr. Robyn Crook, Dr. Annette Chan and Dr. Ivan Anastassov. ©CrookLab.
Masters student Diana Neacsu defended her MS thesis today, titled “A Three-dimensional connectome of the sucker ganglion and other associated structures of the octopus arm”. Diana’s work has revealed some fascinating new insights into this minimally-explored structure, as well as revealing previously unappreciated, large-scale organization of the whole arm nervous system. Diana is also a talented scientific illustrator whose beautiful and informative drawings are featured in her thesis and her upcoming publications.
Diana is continuing her work on cephalopod neurobiology for her PhD, and she’s already on her way to KU Leuven to begin her work there in the Fall. Congratulations Diana! The first of Diana’s papers should be coming out soon.