The Malykhin Lab

Nikolai V. Malykhin MD, PhD

Nikolai is Professor of Psychiatry Neuroscience at the Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute (NMHI) of the University of Alberta. He is psychiatrist and scientist who completed his MD and PhD at the Belarusian State Medical University (Minsk, Belarus) before moving to Canada to continue his postdoctoral training in psychiatric neuroimaging. His lab examines the links between neuroplasticity, cognitive functions, mental health, and healthy aging using advanced high-field high-resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging applications.

Stanislau Hrybouski PhD

Now a postdoctoral researcher at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, working in functional MRI. His research examines structural and functional biomarkers of neurological and cognitive aging, and the role of the amygdala subnuclei in emotional processing.

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Stanislau earned his B.Sc. and PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Alberta, where he was supervised by Dr. Nikolai Malykhin, and is now a postdoctoral researcher at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden working in functional MRI. His doctoral research focused on structural and functional biomarkers of neurological and cognitive aging. He also investigates the functional role of the amygdala subnuclei in emotional processing. This work combines cutting-edge computational and technical tools with a level of anatomical precision that remains rare in present-day fMRI research, and it placed the lab among the first in Canada with the equipment and expertise to attempt it. His broad technical background spans many biomedical techniques beyond his core area of neuroimaging.

Alex Mattar

Alex is a first-year master’s student in the Neuroscience program at the University of Alberta. He previously completed a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Psychology at MacEwan University. During his undergraduate studies, Alex gained research experience in the Hamilton Research Lab, where he investigated the locomotor effects of a novel opioid–neurotensin hybrid peptide, PK20, on larval zebrafish.

Alex joined the Malykhin Lab in 2026. His current research investigates the relationship between chronic stress and brain structure and function in healthy adults. Using MRI and resting-state fMRI, his work focuses on hippocampal structure and functional connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and amygdala, examining how these measures relate to chronic stress and cortisol exposure.

Outside of the lab, Alex enjoys playing soccer, building LEGO sets, playing pool, travelling, and watching the Edmonton Oilers. Following his master’s degree, he hopes to pursue a career in medicine.

Gabriel Nasr

Gabriel (he/they) is in his second year of the Neuroscience graduate program at the University of Alberta, supervised by Dr. Nikolai Malykhin. His M.Sc. project investigates the contributions of medial temporal lobe structures to episodic memory performance using advanced diffusion tensor imaging, structural imaging, and statistics methodology.

The study of memory has long captivated Gabriel because of how it shapes people’s experiences and growth. Unravelling the mysteries of the neural substrates of memory, and improving clinical responses to memory-affecting pathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease, are his primary research interests.

Gabriel joined the Malykhin Lab in 2024, where he developed novel protocols to delineate the hippocampal white matter connections and applied them in his undergraduate thesis to study their role in episodic memory performance in healthy cognitive aging.

Outside of his research, you can find Gabriel in the movie theatre or playing guitar.

Ben Yang

Ben is a graduate M.Sc. student at the University of Alberta. He first became involved with the Malykhin Lab after taking Dr. Nikolai Malykhin’s NEURO 525 course, where he developed a strong interest in neuroimaging and the quantitative analysis of brain structure.

Ben joined the Malykhin Lab in January 2026 and completed his graduate capstone project under Dr. Malykhin’s supervision. His project focused on developing an automated pipeline for the quantitative analysis of cortical and subcortical brain structures using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

In addition to his research, Ben designed and developed the Malykhin Lab website and continues to maintain and update the site.

Outside of the lab, Ben enjoys strength training and looking at brain MRI scans.

Ethan Hernandez

Ethan is a third-year Neuroscience Honours student at the University of Alberta. He joined the Malykhin Lab in 2024 and is currently investigating the impact of chronic stress on brain structure, focusing on ventromedial prefrontal cortex. His research interests centre on morphometric analysis of limbic system structures, machine learning applications to medical imaging, and high-resolution fMRI within the medial temporal lobe. Outside of research, he enjoys rock climbing, practicing guitar, and hanging out with his friends.

Jacky Kuang

Jacky is a 4th year Bachelor of Science Honours student studying neuroscience at the University of Alberta. He joined the Malykhin Lab in 2024 and is currently working on using probabilistic tractography to study the effects of chronic stress and cortisol output on the Amygdala to Prefrontal Cortex connections. When he’s not in the lab or taking classes, Jacky enjoys playing basketball (GO WARRIORS!) and running his Golden Retriever Julie.