2018-2022

In research co-supervised by Dr. Marc Tatar and Dr. Karla Kaun we investigated underlying mechanisms of tau mediated neurodegeneration using Drosophila as a model of disease.

Toll_IMD_021220.png

My interests were to understand the dynamics between aberrant tau, immune signaling and metabolism that lead to neuronal dysfunction, neuronal death, and ultimately neurodegenerative disease.

My overarching goals are to contribute to research that will help with:

1) Elucidating risk factors of neurodegenerative disease.

2) Identifying therapeutic targets and treatment strategies.

3) Characterizing behavioral phenotypes and biomarkers for diagnosis of disease in early stages.

Me doing fly work :)

Me doing fly work :)

 

FLY GROUP ACTIVITY MONITOR (FLYGRAM)

Developed in the Kaun Lab, used to assess group locomotion across age and genotype

Below you will find outputs of this video, using canonical innate immune signaling pathway augmentation both genetically and pharmaceuticalls, represented as longitudinal group locomotion over time.

H&E Staining of a 4um slice of a tau mutant drosophila brain aged for 21 days.

 
H&E Staining of a 4um slice of a tau mutant drosophila brain aged for 21 days.

The Tatar Lab

Kaun Lab 2018 Winter Outing

The Kaun Lab is interested in the neural and molecular mechanisms underlying memory, particularly in the context of behavioral responses to drugs of abuse.