Juan is a PhD candidate in MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences interested in how life experiences shape the brain, asking how factors such as resource inequity, stress across the lifespan, and resilience interact with genetic vulnerability to influence psychiatric and neurodegenerative disease. 

While his early training involved studying the mechanisms and potential therapeutic effects of meditation-based mental-health interventions, his doctoral work has since focused on the circuit- and molecular-level changes by which adversity contributes to prefrontal dysfunction, anxiety-like behavior, and Alzheimer’s disease progression. Looking ahead, he hopes to continue studying the neural dynamics of resilience and adversity in order to develop novel therapeutic strategies for mental-health, aging, and brain health across the lifespan.

santoyo@mit.edu