T32 Fellows

• Graduate Program: School of Biomedical Sciences
• Mentor: Raghu Krishnamoorthy

Research interest:

• Neurodegeneration

Research focus:

My research focuses on the role Endothelin-1 has on retinal ganglion cell death in glaucoma.  I am seeking to understand the effect that Endothelin-1 signaling has on mitophagy.

• Cell Biology, Immunology, and Microbiology
• Mentor: Harlan P. Jones, Ph.D.
• LinkedIn: Jamie Choe

Research interests:

• Psychoneuroimmunology
• Early Life Stress
• Immunological Tolerance
• Autoimmunity

My research is focused on investigating the nexus between neurobiology and immunology from the perspective of crosstalk between the central nervous system and immune system during a critical perinatal window of development. Specifically, I am interested in understanding how environmental insults, such as “toxic” psychosocial stress, during the neonatal/perinatal period can impact the ontogeny of adaptive immunity and self-tolerance. Although the deleterious effects of early life stress (ELS) on human health have been demonstrated in primary literature based on ELS exposures increasing the risk for adult-onset cardiovascular, metabolic, and psychiatric disorders, the effects of ELS have only recently begun to be studied in the context of immune system development and dysregulation. Furthermore, there is a scarcity of published research investigating relationships between ELS and autoimmune disorders. The direction of my research aims to address these fundamental questions linking ELS and self-tolerance based on the potential for early life events to act as a primer for autoimmune disease susceptibility later in life through persistent effects on adaptive immunity. The findings of this research will have the potential to support the implementation of evidence-based strategies to address autoimmune disease in humans from a preventive medicine perspective.

• Integrative Physiology
• Mentor: Caroline Rickards, Ph.D.
• Twitter: @Austin_Phys

Research interest:

• Physiology of Hemorrhage
• Autonomic Regulation of Blood Pressure
• Cerebrovascular Health
• Microvascular Physiology

Research focus:

Conditions which cause reduced blood flow to vital organs such as stroke, ischemic heart disease, and blood loss represent leading causes of death. Accordingly, novel treatments which improve perfusion of oxygen to vital organs such as the brain and heart are needed to reduce the number of lives lost to these conditions. Using a technique which mimics blood loss and causes reduced blood flow to the brain and heart in healthy humans, we have shown that slow increases and decreases (or “slow waves”) in their blood pressure protect against reductions in oxygen to the brain. This led us to the idea that forcing slow waves in blood pressure may be a treatment for vital organ ischemia. Based on these observations, my research seeks to develop and characterize a clinical method to force these slow waves in blood pressure for the treatment of ischemia related conditions.

• D.O./PhD Candidate
• Mentor: Dr. Robert Barber, PhD
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/Mohammad-Housini

Research interest:

• Neurobiology of Aging
• Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics & Epigenetics
• Big Data Analysis using Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
• Investigation of Novel Diagnostic/Screening Tools for Clinical Use

Research focus:

Our laboratory focuses on investigating Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) genetic and epigenetic risk factors among different ethnicities to help reduce health disparities in this field. My primary objective is to leverage the data provided by the Health and Aging Brain Study -Health Disparities (HABS-HD) to build an algorithm for genetic/epigenetic screening that may provide advanced risk assessment or stratification, to help identify AD risk sooner than the current clinical standard. The HABS-HD cohort is a diverse community cohort with several ethnicities represented with on-going enrollment. Our preliminary data demonstrates that the top AD risk alleles different greatly between Mexican Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites. We plan to differentiate the specific etiology of AD based on ethnicity and determine ethnicity-specific genetic/epigenetic risk factors that may be influenced by underlying metabolic, inflammatory, or cardiovascular causes. There is a significant gap in the literature as it relates to minority AD genetic risk evaluation, we aim to bridge this gap with our work.

• Visual Sciences
• Mentor: Dorota Stankowska
• LinkedIn: Gretchen A. Johnson

Research interest:

• Neuroprotection
• Mitochondrial Bioenergetics
• Neurodegeneration and Aging
• Genomics and Transcriptomics
• Glaucoma

In aging and age-related diseases (such as glaucoma) there is often a gradual impairment of eyesight from the irreversible degeneration of neurons in the retina. Our lab has been investigating a small peptide derived from the heat shock protein alpha B crystallin, called P1-CPP, and its’ signaling effects in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). RGCs are the most at-risk cells of the retina and make up the optic nerve – the connection between our eyes and brain. Utilizing transcriptomics to identify what genes are being “turned on” following treatment will provide valuable insight into cytoprotective mechanisms. Another interest of mine is on the function and health of mitochondria in these cells because of the many regulatory roles it plays in maintaining cell health.

• Mentor: Kunlin Jin, Ph.D.

Research interests:

• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Neurobiology of Aging
• Neurodegeneration
• Exosomes

Research focus:

Current models of Alzheimer’s Disease focus largely on the aggregating proteins amyloid-beta and hyperphosphorylated-tau, but unfortunately these targets have as of yet provided no suitable treatments for the prevention or reversal of the disease progression, and contentious benefits with regards to slowing the progression. My research aims to pursue a different potential avenue for Alzheimer’s pathology, in which small extracellular vesicles called exosomes may be responsible for transmitting the diseased phenotype from cell to cell. These vesicles carry a multitude of signaling cargos that include a variety of proteins and RNAs, which we believe could be responsible for priming a neuron for conversion to an Alzheimer’s-like phenotype, or potentially even initiating the conversion. Further exploration of exosomes and their role in Alzheimer’s Disease pathogenesis could provide new therapeutic targets for intervention in the disease process, and depending on the extent of their involvement could lead to a prolonged healthspan and/or lifespan for patients.

• Mentor: Rebecca Cunningham, Ph.D.

Research interest:

• Oxidative Stress
• Sex Differences
• Neurodegenerative Disease
• Steroid Hormones
• Antioxidants

Research focus:

My research is focused primarily on oxidative stress in neurodegenerative disease. We are investigating the roles which chronic intermittent hypoxia, which induces global oxidative stress, affects the brain in rodent models. In addition to oxidative stress, we explore the roles which sex and gonadal hormones play in these disease pathologies. These sex and hormonal differences are integral to our understanding of how the brain deteriorates throughout disease progression. As part of our research, we are investigating how targeting the prodromal state of neurodegenerative disease may impact the efficacy of therapeutic interventions targeting oxidative stress. We hypothesize that the prodromal state of neurodegenerative disease acts as a ‘golden window of opportunity’ where treatments may be able to successfully rescue or prevent neurodegeneration associated with oxidative stress.

• Visual Sciences
• Mentor: Dr. Gulab Zode PhD.
• Link to professional social media accounts:
• Twitter: @MayhewWilliam
• LinkedIn: William Mayhew

Research interest:

• Glaucoma
• Endoplasmic Reticulum stress
• Aging
• Neurodegeneration
• Retina

Research focus:

My research involves studying the effects of chronic ER stress in the neurodegeneration of retinal ganglion cells in primary open-angle glaucoma. After completion of my degree, I plan to continue research in biomedical science by pursuing a post-doctoral training position to prepare me to be an independent investigator.

• Biomedical Science- Integrative Physiology
• Mentor: Steven Romero, Ph.D.
• Twitter: @rerichey

Research interest:

• Hypertension
• Heat therapy
• Cardiovascular disease
• Women’s physiology
• Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

Research focus:

Cardiovascular adaptations that occur due to acute heat stress can improve vascular function in healthy older adults. My work seeks to answer whether a mild chronic heat stress (i.e., heat therapy) can provide beneficial adaptations for individuals at risk for cardiovascular disease. Specifically, my research investigates whether home-based heat therapy will improve blood pressure control and vascular function, in addition to reducing markers of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in post-menopausal women with treatment-resistant hypertension. This work will help to demonstrate the efficacy of heat therapy as a non-pharmacological intervention for this population.

• Ph.D.
• Mentor: Drs. Vicki Nejtek and Michael Salvatore

Research interest:

• Parkinson’s Disease
• Neurodegeneration
• Cognition
• Aerobic Exercise
• Biomarkers

Research focus:

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by a progressive loss of motor functioning. Yet, a subtle decline in cognitive functioning is a prodromal feature of PD that often precedes the onset of motor decline up to 10-years. While cognitive problems may be detectable in prodromal PD, the potential of using biomarkers in combination with cognitive testing for earlier disease detection is not currently practiced. However, doing so may allow for earlier implementation of non-pharmacological treatments to help slow disease progression. One such promising option is the use of aerobic exercise. While exercise has shown positive clinical outcomes, the efficacy of aerobic exercise and its impact on neural mechanisms is not well understood. Therefore, my research is focused on identifying how aerobic exercise affects motor functioning, cognition, biomarkers, and neural mechanisms in prodromal and early-stage PD. I am doing so through a cross-species translational study between early-stage PD subjects and a PD animal model, the Pink1 knock-out (PKO) rat. These experiments will determine if similar patterns of biomarkers and cognitive functions between human PD and a PD rat model exist. Moreover, we expect exercise will have similar impact on these indices between human PD and the PKO rat.