Alyssa Picchini ’04 stays in touch with classmates through Alumni Online Community
Neuroscience graduate Alyssa Picchini ’04 is very busy as she studies pharmacology at Columbia University.
“I am working on my Ph.D. in the laboratory of Rene Hen on the population dynamics and connectivity of adult-born neurons in the hippocampus,” she explains. The hippocampus is a part of the brain that has a central role in memory processes.
Prior to her graduate work, the Manhattan resident was a post-baccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award fellow in the Laboratory of Molecular Pathophysiology of Mood and Anxiety Disorders at the National Institute of Mental Health.
She has found the Lafayette Alumni Online Community to be a quick and easy way to remain connected with the school and alumni, including former teammates on Lafayette’s Division I track & field and cross country teams.
“It is a good way to keep up with classmates,” says Picchini, who attends regional alumni chapter events and has volunteered as an externship mentor.
In regard to the online community, she offers the following advice: “Do it! It’s definitely worth the few minutes it takes to fill out the information.”
And Picchini should know; her free minutes are very hard to come by.
Results from NSSE can provide prospective students with insights into how they might learn and develop at a given college. 