Keynote Speaker

Dr. Napoli was born into a first-generation immigrant family with limited views of roles for women in society. She was groomed from an early age for a career in the arts, as both her parents were musicians and had a long family legacy of music. Her passion was always for science, but this was actively discouraged as was any form of empowerment to make personal choices or to reach beyond the boundaries of her upbringing.

Always excelling academically, she started college at the young age of 16, only on her family's terms of pursuing fine arts at the college of their choice. During college she used her electives to take pre-med requirements and worked her way through a post-bac year to apply to medical school. Though successful, securing multiple medical school acceptances, ultimately her father would not let her attend. Lacking the resources and support to defy her family and enroll without their help, she spent most of her career in music.

Dr. Napoli opened a music conservatory in New York City, created a proprietary music education system, and provided music programs for 40 private schools in the tristate area. She married young, raised three children, and continued to teach music privately after selling her conservatory. During these years, despite many personal challenges, Dr. Napoli never lost her love of science, and continued to immerse herself in scientific literature to remain current on the latest research and discoveries in multiple fields.

In her early fifties, she returned to school to realize her long-awaited aspirations for a scientific career. She received an MS in physiology and biophysics from Stony Brook University, winning an AAUW fellowship to fund her master's education. During this time, she was involved in adult neurogenesis research, which so intrigued her that she decided to pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience.

She won an NSF GRFP fellowship and a Presidential Dissertation award to fund her Ph.D. research, earning her doctoral degree in neuroscience from Stony Brook University in 2023. She was invited to join a collaborator's lab at Stony Brook as a post-doctoral associate, and won a NIH IRACDA fellowship to fund her research position and pedagogical training. In 2025 Dr. Napoli became a faculty member at Stony Brook University and currently teaches core physiology and neuroscience undergraduate courses as well as running a research division in neurodevelopmental disorders within her prior postdoctoral lab.