Benavides Laboratory Team

David R. Benavides, MD, PhD – Principal Investigator

Dr. Benavides directs the translational clinical neuroscience research program to investigate immune regulation of neuronal function, with particular interest in autoantibody-mediated neurological syndromes.

Dr. Benavides earned M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Medical Scientist Training Program at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. As a neuroscience graduate student in the laboratory of James A. Bibb, Ph.D., he employed a multidisciplinary approach using biochemistry, electrophysiology, transgenic rodent models, and animal behavior to study reward signaling, learning and memory, and mood-related behavior.

Dr. Benavides completed adult neurology residency training at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland followed by fellowship training in the Division of Neuroimmunology and Neurological Infections. He also completed postdoctoral fellowship training in neuroscience at Johns Hopkins in the laboratory of Richard L. Huganir, Ph.D., where he used neuronal culture models to investigate the effects of autoantibodies on intracellular signal transduction cascades.

Yesenia Enriquez-Gonzalez, MD – Clinical and Research Fellow 

Yesenia earned an MD degree from Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine in 2015 and completed neurology residency at University of Puerto Rico in 2023. She is currently a Fellow in the Baltimore VA and UMMC Advanced Fellowship Program in Multiple Sclerosis. She joined the Benavides Laboratory in 2023 and works on an animal model of anti-NMDAR encephalitis.

Timothy Zhang, BS – Laboratory Research Technician

Timothy earned a BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the Johns Hopkins University in 2023. He joined the Benavides Laboratory in 2023. 

Andres Chavez-Barragan, BS – Research Assistant 

Andres earned a BS in Molecular Biology with a concentration in Biochemistry from the University of Pittsburgh in 2019. He is a medical student in the Class of 2025 at UMSOM. He joined the Benavides Laboratory in 2022 and works on an animal model of anti-NMDAR encephalitis.

Laboratory Alumni

Postdoctoral Trainees

• Yuyoung Joo, PhD (2018-2021); Current Position: NIH

Predoctoral Trainees

• Daniel Freeman, BS, MS (Rotation Fall 2023)
• Anna Lin, BS (Spring 2022)
• Charles A. Dean, BA, MS (2018-2021)

Staff

• Hien Vu, BS, MS – Laboratory Research Technician (2018-2022)
• Tia Douglass, BS – Laboratory Research Assistant (2017-2018)

Volunteers

• Tiffany Kamberi, undergraduate student – UM Scholars Program (Summer 2023)
• Niki Gooya, undergraduate student – Research Volunteer (Summer 2020)
• Julian Peregoff, HS & undergraduate student – Research Volunteer (Summer 2018 & 2020)
• Sophia Liu, undergraduate student – UM Scholars Program (Summer 2019)
• Xavia Lemott, undergraduate student – Research Volunteer (Fall 2017)