Ethan Chang
Hi! I’m a neuroscience Ph.D. student at Washington University in St. Louis, where I study how astrocytes interact with neural circuits and how those ideas might inform computational models of the brain.
The brain contains so much more than just neurons. Recent literature has pointed to astrocytes as integral parts of controlling certain aspects of circuit function. I aim to take these biological inspirations and integrate them into machine learning and reinforcment learning paradigms. Mainly, I am interested in two questions: (1) Can we use biologically inspired models to drive breakthroughs in machine learning models? (2) Can we use these computational models to better understand computation in vivo, and use them to drive cures for neuro-related diseases?
Research interests
I am broadly interested in how neuronal and non-neuronal cells/functions help shape neural computation. At the moment, I am thinking about astrocytes not just as support cells, but as active participants in the dynamics of neural circuits.
- Astrocyte function in neural circuits
- Computational neuroscience and brain dynamics
- Biologically grounded machine learning models
- Deep learning and reinforcement learning
Background
Research affiliations
- Brain Dynamics and Control Lab Ph.D. student · PI: ShiNung Ching · Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis · 2025–present
- Papouin Lab Ph.D. student · PI: Thomas Papouin · Department of Neuroscience, Washington University in St. Louis · 2025–present
- Nedergaard Lab Student researcher · PI: Maiken Nedergaard · Department of Neurology, University of Rochester · 2021–2025
Education
- Ph.D. in Neuroscience Washington University in St. Louis · 2025–2030
- M.S. in Computer Science Johns Hopkins University · 2025–2028
- B.S. in Neuroscience, High Distinction University of Rochester · 2021–2025
- B.A. in Mathematics University of Rochester · 2021–2025
Publications
Journal articles
- Gahn-Martinez D, Giannetto M, Chang E, Beam N, Pla V, Nedergaard M. Chronic intraventricular cannulation for the study of glymphatic transport. eNeuro, 2025. View paper
- Giannetto M, Gomolka R, Gahn-Martinez D, Chang E, Gresser M, Thompson T, Mori Y, Nedergaard M. Glymphatic fluid transport is suppressed by the AQP4 inhibitor AER-271. Glia, 2024. View paper