Mazen is the Director of the NMU Lacrosse Lab, where he leads research exploring how single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may influence psychiatric disorders such as ADHD, depression, and anxiety. Trained as both a physician and a researcher, Dr. Assal brings experience from Penn State University’s Department of Neurosurgery and earned his medical degree with honors from Zagazig University. His interests span psychiatric genetics, surgery, and emergency medicine, with a focus on bridging clinical insight with molecular research.

Since moving to Marquette, he’s fallen in love with the area. Whether it’s the quiet, snowy beauty in winter or the sparkling waters of Lake Superior in summer, he finds the surroundings both peaceful and inspiring. Outside of the lab, he enjoys making latte art, producing music, learning Japanese, and reading about quantum physics. He’s also passionate about mentorship and is always happy to connect with pre-med and undergraduate students who are curious about careers in medicine or research.

Jessica's undergraduate major was in Pre-Clinical Psychology with a minor in Social Work. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from NMU in December 2024. As a McNair student, she worked in the lab on the MTHFR project, and is continuing the work post-graduation. She is pursuing a Masters in Social Work at NMU come Fall 2025. 

Future goals include obtaining her Psy.D and opening facilities to help homeless and low-income families gain resources, skills, and support to grow and succeed in obtaining housing, financial stability, and better mental health.

Jessica has presented research at the MidBrains SfN (Society for Neuroscience) Conference in October of 2024, and the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in April of 2025. 

Rebecca is a lab manager in LaCrosse Labs and gained a bachelor's degree in both Psychology and Forensic Biochemistry at Northern in May 2023. Rebecca's research consists of looking at the ST3GAL3 gene at specific SNP, rs3952787, to see if it could potentially predict attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, and depression. 

Rebecca also helped out former lab member Nicole Thomas and her study "Genetic Alterations Associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Reference: Thomas, Nicole, "Genetic Alterations Associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder" (2023). All NMU Master's Theses. 743. https://commons.nmu.edu/theses743

Rebecca is a Graduate Teaching Assistant and teaches three lab sections, PSY250 and PSY 100. 

Alex is a second year Integrative Bioscience Master's program student at Northern Michigan University. Alex is studying how Fluoxetine and Ketamine impact the functional status of parvalbumin networks in the central fear memory circuit. For the future, Alex would like to work in the pharmaceutical development field and then go on to a PHD program involving molecular pharmacology and drug development. 

Alex also presented at the 2024 Three-Minute Thesis competition at the Northern Center.

Heba is a second year psychology graduate student at Northern Michigan University. Heba's thesis is on the MTHFR gene mutation at SNP C677T and how it potentially correlates with symptoms of ADHD, anxiety, and depression. 

She currently works at a Graduate Assistant in the NMU School of Nursing, and hopes to work in a neuroscience lab once she graduates.

Nicole Marion is currently attending the Univeristy of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio enrolled in the integrative biomedical sciences PhD program. She is working with Dr. Naomi Sayre's lab that primarily focuses on the effects of stroke anf TBI on the aging brain.

Nicole is currently working on a continuation project from a recent graduate. She is looking at the effects of neurogenesis following the knockout of low-density lipoprotein receptor related to protein 1. Right now within the project, Nicole is focusing on the memory impairment aspect of KO. She is also examining the dentate gyrus of our mice to see how neurogenesis is being affected by the KO, specifically looking at neural sten migration, maturation, and apoptosis.