Our Team

Marta Soden, PhD, Principal Investigator

Marta received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College, where she majored in Neuroscience and Behavior. She went on to receive her PhD in the laboratory of Dr. Lu Chen at UC Berkeley, studying local translation and homeostatic synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. Marta then completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Larry Zweifel at the University of Washington, where she began studying dopaminergic circuits and neuronal excitability. She was thrilled to be able to stay at UW as faculty in the Pharmacology department and start her own research group.

Siyi Ma, PhD, postdoc

Siyi joined the Soden lab as a postdoctoral fellow after completing her PhD at McMaster University where she studied the development of synaptic inputs in the rodent brainstem. Currently, she is interested in examining the structure and function of neurotransmitter/neuropeptide co-transmitting inputs in the VTA using electrophysiological and electron microscopy techniques. Outside the lab, Siyi enjoys doing needlework and experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen.

Mary Loveless, graduate student

Mary joined the Soden lab as a research technician in 2022, where she became fascinated by neuropeptide/fast transmitter corelease dynamics and their role in motivated behavior. In 2024, Mary entered the UW Graduate Program in Neuroscience as a Ph.D. student and, after completion of her first year, enthusiastically returned to the Soden lab as a graduate student comentored with Dr. Michael Bruchas. Outside of lab, you can find Mary hiking, baking sweet treats, and hanging out with her dogs.

Gretchen Stemmler, graduate student

Gretchen joined the Soden lab in 2026 as a PhD student in the UW Pharmacology Graduate Program. She earned her bachelors in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience from the University of Michigan, where she first became interested in the brain and motivated behavior in Dr. Kent Berridge’s lab. After undergrad, she explored midbrain dopamine systems and Pavlovian learning as a research technician in Dr. Ben Saunder’s lab at the University of Minnesota. She is now excited to examine how neuropeptide and neurotransmitter systems govern motivation and learning in her PhD work. In her free time, Gretchen enjoys trying new foods, biking, thrifting, and exploring Seattle!

Undergraduate Students

McKenna Kernan

Kyle Schroeder

Emily Vu

Lab Alumni

Grace Davis, research technician

Dustin Sumarli, research technician

Joshua Yee, research technician

Jazlen Garza, undergraduate (BioSTEP)

Ariana Rastani, undergraduate

Su Cho, undergraduate

Zainab Nasir, undergraduate

Beatriz Cuevas, undergraduate