Woynaroski Lab: Biobehavioral Approaches in NeuroDevelopment (BAND)
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
VIP = Very Important Pets
Dutch Woynaroski
Dutch, adopted in 2018, is arguably the most adored pitbull on the planet. He spends his time barking at anything and everything happening outside, rolling over for belly rubs at the first sign of attention from a human, wearing bow ties, and taking long naps. Dutch has a long list of scientific accomplishments, including co-chairing the 2021 Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Science Day, serving as a member of the panel workshop on autism treatment efficacy at INSAR, and TA-ing numerous courses in the department. He is adept at pushing Dr. Woynaroski out of her comfy office chair during important zoom meetings.
Honey Funny Sunny Kaysili
Honey was born around July 2021 and was found with her two sisters in the wild. Now she has a 6-year-old human sister (or maybe a mother...). Interrupting Zoom and staring at humans or to the screen while someone is working on the computer are her attention seeking behaviors. She vanishes and reappears at will. You can notice her half ginger face peering out at you while you are finding your clothes, or she looks at you from a pile of smelly clothes while you are putting laundry in the basket. She also enjoys looking outside, watching you patiently while you are cooking, hiding toys or our little belongings under the rugs and around every corner of the house, and doing some light reading with Bahar.
Wally Feldman
Wallace “Wally” Rudolph Feldman was the last in a line of foster cats housed by Jacob/Dr. Feldman during lockdown in 2020 after his adopted senior cat, Momma, crossed the rainbow bridge. Wally was not happy at Williamson County Animal Shelter; they did not think that they would be able to adopt him out and actually clipped his ear just in case they decided to release him back into the wild. Within about 10 minutes at the Feldman household, he dropped the tough guy façade and was quickly declared a foster fail! He enjoys playing with toys, sleeping in the sun, and laying on keyboards during Zoom meetings.