University: Brown University
Hometown: Coralville, IA
NIH Research Project:
Rhinal Cortical Lesions: Effects on Reward Association Memory in Rhesus Monkeys
Mentor: Mortimer Mishkin, Ph.D.
Section on Cognitive Neuroscience
National Institute of Mental Health
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I recently received my Bachelor of Science in neuroscience at Brown University. While at Brown University I used a rat model to conduct research on the basis of learning and memory in the hippocampus.
During my first summer at the NIH, I trained under Dr. Carolyn Smith in the Laboratory of Cerebral Metabolism in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). While there, I was studying fragile X syndrome, the most common form of inherited mental retardation. We used a mouse model of the disorder to investigate the effect of fragile X on the rat brain and to compare it to the human disorder.
Last summer, as a UGSP Scholar, I explored the clinical aspect of research with Dr. Alan Zametkin in the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program of the NIMH. I assisted Dr. Zametkin in a study on brain imaging of Prozac treatment in children who have an anxiety disorder. I also worked on a 10-year review article on childhood obesity.
As a second year UGSP Scholar, I am currently training with Dr. Mortimer Mishkin in the Laboratory of Neuropsychiatry in the NIMH. We are using a primate model to study learning and memory. Specifically, I am involved in three projects. One uses objects to look at visual recognition memory in monkeys; one studies auditory memory; and the last project utilizes MRI images of monkey brains to measure the volume of the hippocampus as it changes through development.
My ultimate career goal is to conduct clinical research in pediatric neurology. I plan to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. I want to focus my Ph.D. studies on learning disabilities and mood and anxiety disorders in children and to complete my residency and internship in pediatric neurology. |
