Trainee Profile: Danielle Stanton-Turcotte

Danielle Stanton-Turcotte is a part of Dr. Angelo Iulianella’s lab, and in April 2022, she was one of the lead authors in a publication in The Journal of Neuroscience. Danielle has been a part of Dr. Iulianella’s lab for several (5) years as a PhD trainee studying the development of neurons.

“How does a neuron become a neuron?” is the question they ultimately would like to answer. “There’s a ton of different cells in the body and the nervous system, each with their own specific function…what genetic instructions allow these unique cell types to acquire the right set of traits? These are the questions we would like to answer,” Danielle said.

As a longtime student in Dr. Iulianella’s lab, Danielle has said the publication was a “long time coming and I’m happy to see it come to fruition.”

Coming from New Hampshire, Danielle moved to Halifax to complete her Masters in neuroscience, then she saw the potential in the work being done in the lab and streamlined into a PhD to continue her studies.

“I play a few instruments, so I spend a fair amount of time noodling and making music,” she said. “The most interesting one is probably the theremin, which has been a lot of fun to learn.” The theremin, which is a musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer, reflects her enthusiasm for experimentation, from the lab to sounds of musical instruments.

In previous years, Danielle ran the Atlantic Mobility Action Project Journal Club and volunteered for BRC events like the Brain Bee and Brain Awareness Week.