Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
My area of interest is understanding cellular changes associated with age that contribute to adult-onset neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. I aim to identify disease pathways susceptible to intervention with an intent to stop disease progression across multiple neurodegenerative conditions. Currently, our group uses directly converted neurons generated from human fibroblasts and differentiated using microRNA effectors. This approach generates neuronal subtypes which maintain their age-related epigenetic signatures and disease markers. In addition to characterizing novel mechanisms of disease, I hope to eventually use this model to test pharmaceuticals to reverse the observed phenotypes in hope of pausing disease progression on a cellular level.