Calla Litteken | 2026 SURF Participant

Calla Litteken is a sophomore Chancellor’s Scholar and James Scholar majoring in neural engineering with a minor in gender and women’s studies. Her research interests include neuroimaging, neuroinflammation, and functional neurological disorder. At Illinois, Calla works on wet lab projects studying neuroinflammation with the Saif Lab and focuses on neuroimaging and data processing in functional neurological disorder, aging, and stroke with the Carle Cerebral Group and Carle Illinois Joint Neural Engineering Lab. Outside the lab, she enjoys hiking, and is a member of the Euchre Club and Penny Dreadful Players theatre group on campus. At Mayo Clinic, Calla will work in the Translational Neuroimmunology Lab studying interventions to promote axonal and neural function in the face of neuroinflammation and structural damage. She plans to pursue a PhD and a career in clinically focused neuroscience research.