Lab Members

Dr. Hazel Sive became Dean of the College of Science, and Professor of Biology at Northeastern University in June 2020. For twenty-eight years prior, she was Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. She is a research pioneer, award-winning educator and entrepreneur in the higher education space.

A native of South Africa, Dr. Sive received the BSc in Chemistry and Zoology, from University of Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, South Africa, where she was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2022. She received the PhD from Rockefeller University.

Dr. Sive’s groundbreaking research focuses on neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as fundamental processes underlying brain and craniofacial development. Recipient of numerous awards, in 2022, Dr. Sive was elected a Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science. She is Editor-in-Chief of the new Xenopus Lab Manual (Cold Spring Harbor, 2023).

Dr. Sive is a distinguished educator, and MacVicar Faculty Fellow, MIT’s highest undergraduate teaching accolade. An accomplished leader, Dr. Sive was Associate Dean of the MIT School of Science; Founding Director of the MIT Jameel World Higher Education Lab; and Founding Director of the MIT-Africa Initiative. At Northeastern, Dr. Sive is Chair of the Africa Global Initiative.

For the Northeastern College of Science, Dean Sive has the overarching vision of building excellence in research, education and innovation, with the following goals:

• Build a Diverse College where Everyone Belongs
• Empower Education across Learning Communities
• Shift the PhD Paradigm
• Connect Solutions to Crucial Research Challenges
• Promote a Successful Faculty
• Construct a Framework for Growth

Current Team Members

Brandon Choo is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Sive Lab at Northeastern University, Boston. He received his BSc, BSc (Hons), and PhD from Monash University Malaysia. His PhD research project was on the evaluation of several newly synthesized compounds for their anti-convulsive potential using high-throughput screening and behavioral studies with a zebrafish animal model. His current research focuses on using zebrafish to understand how deletions of certain genes effect changes that ultimately lead to the phenotypes that characterize human 16p11.2 deletion syndrome. 

Fourth-year undergraduate student with a major in biology and a minor in music technology. He is currently working as a laboratory assistant, feeding our zebrafish by harvesting brine shrimp and helping with other miscellaneous tasks. He would like to pursue research in neurodegenerative diseases or as a surgeon in the medical field.

Alison Swierczynski

Alison is a fourth-year Health Science student with a minor in Biology at Northeastern University. She has a great passion for neurodevelopmental research and hopes to pursue a career in medicine, intertwining her interests of patient care and research.

Alumni