​Ila Dwivedi is a Ph.D. student in the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program at UCSD. She received her B.S. in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior with Regents Honors from UC Davis and her M.S. in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine under the guidance of Dr. Michael Bonaguidi at the USC Keck School of Medicine’s Broad CIRM Center. 

In the Haddad Lab, Ila’s ongoing research focuses on applying stem cell technology for the study of human brain development in health and disease. Her first project involves the use of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived cortical organoids to model and explore the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the fetal brain’s response to methadone, a synthetic opioid analgesic used for the treatment of opioid dependence. Ila’s study combines techniques at the intersection of stem cell biology, neurodevelopment, and transcriptomics to identify molecular mediators of methadone’s adverse effect on neuron growth and maturation in the developing cortex. In parallel, she has also been employing iPSC-technology to model and probe the fetal neurobiology of a rare autonomic nervous system disorder called Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome (CCHS). The aim of her research is to ultimately use this knowledge improve interventions for maternal opioid use disorder and orphan diseases like CCHS.

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