Georgetown College. Georgetown University.

Anna Mikulak continues to work with Dr. Walker as her Ph.D. advisor. (Courtesy Anna Mikulak)

By Dayo Akinwande

Growing up in the D.C. metropolitan area, it would seem that Anna Mikulak was destined to attend Georgetown for the duration of her academic career. As she gathered information from her older sister, a Georgetown student in Nursing Studies, it sparked within her the thought of going to the institution as well. Even after graduating with a degree in Psychology and considering several doctoral programs in neuroscience and psychology at other institutions, she joined a Ph.D. program at the very same department from which she obtained her baccalaureate, specializing in lifespan cognitive neuroscience. And she has the same advisor she had in her undergraduate years: Dr. Benjamin Walker.

“I heard from a friend that Dr. Walker's Behavioral Neuropsychology class was interesting, so I took it,” recalls Mikulak of the beginnings of their research collaboration.

It was with Dr. Walker that Mikulak studied rat models in relation to autism. Currently a second-year Ph.D. candidate, she has continued to examine the relationship between autistic behavior and the immune system, particularly the link between early immune insult (either pre-natal or post-natal) and later development of autism spectrum disorder. Mikulak looks through medical records, autism diagnostic inventories, and genetic information for autistic children and their family members, all of which are contained in an online database maintained by the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange.

The consistency in Mikulak’s academic track can be credited to working in the same department throughout the course of her stay at Georgetown and, even more specifically, with Dr. Walker.

“Working with Dr. Walker specifically prepared me for graduate school in that he not only taught me a lot about the relationship between brain and behavior and how we can examine it; he also helped me to develop critical and analytical skills that are useful in such research,” says Mikulak.

Mikulak also liked Dr. Walker’s passion for his research, noting that even as he was serious with his work, he always injected humor to lighten things up and strove to make class engaging. For instance, Dr. Walker once demonstrated with a sheep’s brain what could happen to such an organ during a car accident—something that she recalled as unique.

“He always brings a human brain to show each of his classes, so that the students can see it up close and look at the different areas that they’ve been learning about,” she adds.

Mikulak’s ultimate goal is to translate her learning experience at Georgetown into a career path involving psychology, neuroscience, and policy.

“My work at Georgetown has definitely given me the scientific foundation I need to act as a liaison between the worlds of science and policy,” she says.

Hailing from Arlington, Virginia, Mikulak was a member of the National Honor Society in Psychology, Psi Chi, and she completed an Honors thesis for her Psychology major. In her spare time, she enjoys seeing plays, attending concerts, reading, and playing the piano.

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