University: North Carolina State University
Hometown: Durham, NC
NIH Research Project:
Talampanel Effects on Human Cortical Excitability Determined by EEG and TMS
Mentor: Michael A. Rogawski, M.D./Ph.D.
Epilepsy Research Section
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
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I am a junior at North Carolina State University. I developed an interest in research while participating in the Introductory Molecular Biology Research Experience (IMBRE) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) during my sophomore year in high school.
Through the IMBRE program I trained in NIEHS's Laboratory of Women's Health under the mentorship of Dr. Barbara Davis for two summers. During my time in her lab I learned to conduct polymerase chain reactions, a fundamental molecular biology technique that I used to analyze the genotype of mutant mice used in cancer research, and in situ hybridization, a technique I used to localize BRCA-1, a gene expressed in breast cancer.
In the summer of 2001, I participated in the Summer of Discovery program at NIEHS and interned in the Neurotoxicology Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Jean Harry. I isolated RNA from the hippocampus of mice, which was later used in Alzheimer's research.
Last summer I trained with Dr. Katsutoshi Furukawa in Dr. Mark Mattson's Laboratory of Neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging, where I used calcium imaging to determine the effects of insulin-like growth factor I and amyloid precursor protein on glutamate receptors in hippocampal neurons.
This summer, as a UGSP Scholar, I am working in the Epilepsy Research Branch under Dr. Michael Rogawski at the National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke. My project is aimed at determining the ability of talampanel, an anti-epileptic drug, to block receptors in the brain. During epileptic seizures these receptors "overfire" receiving far more chemicals than normal.
My career goal is to obtain an M.D./Ph.D. in order to conduct basic and clinical research in degenerative neuronal diseases, as well as practice neurosurgery.
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