Research
“It is the hardest thing in the world to frighten a mongoose, because he is eaten up from nose to tail with curiosity.” Rudyard Kipling
In research and in life it’s useful to take the stance of a mongoose using the motto “run and find out.” As a graduate student I tried to understand how specific connections are set up in the nervous system using a simple organism that has only 302 neurons total. Yet, curiosity brought me to research fairly early. In high school I researched proteins with potential links to multiple sclerosis. As an undergrad at UC Santa Barbara curiosity drove me to study inflammatory eye disease and later to study early developmental biology. Research involves dealing with unknown and undefined systems. Throughout my experiences in biology it was curiosity that gives me the audacity necessary to tackle such open-ended questions.
From Scientific American and adapted from the Worm Atlas. C. elegans is a 1 mm long nematode worm. It is the only organism where the connections of all the neurons to each other has been mapped out.
Neural Connections
The formation and maintenance of the proper number of synapses is crucial to proper signaling in the brain. In many systems, synapse number is dynamic. An excess of connections is formed early in development and then the number decreases as neuronal activity strengthens the connections that are needed. Improper regulation of synapse number is associated with some forms of mental retardation and a reduced number of synapses is a strong correlate of cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s Disease.
Adapted from the Smith Lab and rankopedia. When Ascidians are larvae they have a precursor to the spine
Early Development
To study a process, we looked at the process when it fails. In this case we looked at mutants with deformed spinal precursors in hopes of better understanding disease. We tried to figure out what gene caused a given defect.
Schematic of the human eye adapted from the OHSU Brain Institute.
Eye Disease
We used eye to study neuroscience and disease. In order to read the words on this page specialized neurons in your eye react to light. The signal is transmitted through a complex hierarchy that is organized in many layers. There is a class of inflammatory diseases where the immune system incorrectly attacks the layers in our eye.
Oligodendrocytes resting on bundles of neurons. Image from Regencell.
Multiple Sclerosis
We were interested in a group of cells in the brain that aren’t directly involved in signaling. These cells, called oligodendrocytes, insulate the wiring of the brain. They make sure that the neurons responsible for transmitting brain signals are able to do so efficiently. Multiple Sclerosis is a disease that results from this process failing.
Research Grants and Fellowships
NSF Graduate Fellowship Recipient, 2008
Stanford Graduate Fellowship Recipient, 2007
Regents Scholarship at the UC Santa Barbara, 2002-2006
Member of UCSB Lambda Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, 2005
Sigma Xi Grant Recipient for Undergraduate Research, 2005
Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Grant Recipient, 2005
Stipanich Undergraduate Research Scholar Award, 2003
Publications
Ericson VR, Spilker KA, Tugizova MS, Shen K. MTM-6, a phosphoinositide phosphatase, is required to promote synapse formation in Caenorhabditis elegans. PLoS One. 2014 Dec 5;9(12)
Veeman MT et al. Chongmague reveals an essential role for laminin-mediated boundary formation in chordate convergence and extension movements. Development. 2008 Jan; 135 (1): 33-41
Hikita et al. Osteopontin Is Proinflamamatory in Experimental Autoimmune Uveitis. Ivest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2006; 47: 4435-4443