Dr. Maral Tajerian is a Neurophysiologist with particular interest in Brain Plasticity. Following undergraduate training in Biology and Psychology , Dr. Tajerian received a Master’s degree from the department of Biology and a PhD degree from the department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University, Canada. She then completed a postdoctoral tenure at the School of Medicine at Stanford University, where she received the prestigious Ruth L. Kirschtein fellowship in pain research. She is currently appointed as an Assistant Professor at the Biology department at Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY). She is the recipient of the Henry Wasser Award for Outstanding Research and her work is funded by NIH and internal CUNY grants.

In addition to Laboratory research, Dr. Tajerian is passionate about teaching and mentoring graduate and undergraduate trainees. She is the director of the NIH U-RISE program that is designed to support undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds as they complete their baccalaureate degree and transition into and complete biomedical, research-focused higher degree programs. She is an advocate of science outreach and is the co-founder of Thwacke science-media consultancy.