Nash Family Department of Neuroscience

Description:
Perineuronal nets surrounding neurons in the nucleus accumbens of mice

Bio:
I became interested in neuroscience research in college after taking the course Drugs, Brain and Behavior. This area of study inspired me, and I became passionate about basic biomedical research in modeling human disease. I quickly became involved in research, approaching my studies with a mature sense of purpose with the hope of pursuing a career in neuroscience research. My undergraduate research experience explored the long-term behavioral consequences of methamphetamine and nicotine exposure during adolescence. As a graduate student, my work assessed cellular and behavioral aspects involved in the control of meal size. My academic journey and scientific curiosity evolved to include the assessment of the neurobiology of psychiatric illness, as expressed through the study of animal behavior and the cellular/molecular mechanisms underlying it. Neuropsychiatric disorders are a serious public health concern: they are highly debilitating, difficult to treat, have high prevalence rates, and are poorly understood. Evidence suggests that structural brain abnormalities may contribute to the pathology of these disorders, yet this is largely an unexplored research area. The extracellular matrix (ECM) of the brain plays a crucial role in providing structural support and facilitating synaptic plasticity. Alterations to this complex network of proteins surrounding neurons and glial cells can have drastic consequences on morphological processes contributing to the emergence or maintenance of these disorders. Therefore, my long-term research interests center around understanding the brain’s ECM contribution(s) in mood dysregulation, particularly those linked to exposure to stress, in an attempt to discover novel therapeutic targets.

Research focus: Major Depressive Disorder