Led by Amanda Therrien, PhD, the Sensorimotor Learning Laboratory at MRRI conducts research to improve motor rehabilitation protocols for individuals with neurological disorders by enhancing our understanding of the precise sensory and motor control mechanisms that underlie their behavioral impairments. MRRI is pleased to welcome Alyssa Eyssalenne to the Institute in her new role as a Research Assistant working with Dr. Therrien.

Ms. Eyssalenne graduated from Temple University in 2021 with a B.S. in Neuroscience with a focus in Systems, Behavior, and Plasticity. During her undergraduate career, Ms. Eyssalenne interned at the Children and Adolescent Anxiety Disorder Clinic (CAADC) at Temple Health where she focused on data input and consolidation for clinic patients in behavioral therapy trials. As a student, Ms. Eyssalenne was also an executive member of the student organization for Caribbean awareness and the By Any Means Necessary dance company, from which she hopes to carry over her teamwork/team building and adaptability skills.

Prior to joining the MRRI team, Ms. Eyssalenne was a formulations technician at Charles River Laboratories in Horsham, PA. There, she performed basic to advanced drug formulation techniques for preclinical safety assessment in animal and in-vitro study models for review in reproductive, juvenile, and developmental toxicology. Ms. Eyssalenne became the technical team lead and further developed her regulatory and quality assurance skills as she performed preliminary data quality control, addressed study audits and deviations, and contributed to protocol/standard operating procedure development and review. After more than two years at Charles River Labs, Ms. Eyssalenne is eager to apply and shift her knowledge base to human research/trials as well as be a part of the clinical side of research.

At MRRI, Ms. Eyssalenne will be working with Dr. Therrien on her research in sensorimotor learning, with a focus on proprioception and adaptation learning in the upper limbs. Ms. Eyssalenne’s primary role in lab will be in conducting participant trials using equipment, such as the Kinarm Exoskeleton Robot.