Research Interests: Severe Malaria Pathogenesis, Nitric Oxide Signaling, Blood-Brain Barrier Integrity

Matt graduated Summa Cum Laude with high honors and Presidential Scholar designation for completion of his honors program from Dartmouth College in 2009 with a major in Biology.  He was awarded the Barrett Cup award for All-Around achievement. This award is given to "the man in the senior class who shows the greatest promise of becoming a factor in the outside world through strength of character, qualities of leadership, record of scholarship, broad achievement and influence among his fellow students." As an undergraduate, Matt spent two years in the lab of Professor Joyce DeLeo investigating the role of glial cells in the induction and maintenance of acute and chronic pain states. For his senior thesis, Matt demonstrated that endocannabinoids, endogenously-produced pain-killing molecules, contribute to the spontaneous resolution of acute postoperative pain in a rodent model. Outside of academics, Matt worked as a writing tutor and volunteered for Medlife, a student-run non-profit organization that works to address health disparities in the developing world. With this group, Matt spent a summer in Ecuador managing several medical missions. As a senior, Matt also co-captained the Dartmouth rugby team, leading his team to a third Ivy League Championship in four years and a top-10 finish in the Collegiate National Tournament. After graduating, Matt matriculated at Oxford as a Masters student and joined the lab of Professor David Roberts in order to study the neurological complications that can accompany severe malaria infection, especially in children. Through his initial work, Matt became increasingly interested in the relationship between the vascular and neurological dysfunction observed in patients with life-threatening disease.  As a result, Matt has developed collaborations with researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and Oxford’s Department of Cardiovascular Medicine in order to study the causes and consequences of impaired vascular homeostasis in severe malaria, specifically focusing on the small gaseous signaling molecule nitric oxide. Matt is extremely grateful for the opportunity to continue this research as a doctoral student and is excited to make full use of the material and intellectual resources available at the NIH.

Research Interests: Memory, Neuroplasticity, Cognition, Animal Behavior

Lucas graduated magna cum laude in 2009 from Allegheny College in Meadville, PA, double majoring in neuroscience and psychology, with departmental honors in both.  He is a member of the psychology honorary society, Psi Chi, and a professional member of the Society for Neuroscience.  Lucas won the Junior Neuroscience Prize and Senior Neuroscience Prize for best thesis, whereby he examined the role of a specific brain region in the rat towards spatial navigation and memory with Drs. Jeffrey Cross & Amy Wiseman at Allegheny College.  He is also a three-time Distinguished Alden Scholar recipient and has won several other prizes.  Throughout college, Lucas continued to do independent research at Allegheny and also two summer internships at the NIH, resulting in numerous posters and a publication.  His fascination with neuroscience began at a young age, appreciating the vast complexity but yet seamless integration of behaviors in the central nervous system.  After graduation, Lucas spent two years at the NIH in Leslie Ungerleider’s lab studying cognitive neuroscience of face processing in the macaque monkey using fMRI.  In the monkey and human, it appears that faces have specific brain regions that are dedicated to their processing.  More specifically, he researched how emotional expressions affect this processing and also how these ‘face patches’ link together. Now, Lucas is primarily interested in the fundamental questions of: How is stress perceived in rodents that lack adult neurogenesis (birth of new neurons), and, how do these newly developed neurons differ from the mature neurons in the hippocampus?  Lucas has set up a collaboration between Dr. Heather Cameron at the NIMH studying the role of adult neurogenesis in behavior, such as memory and anxiety, and Dr. David Bannerman at Oxford studying the role that these mature neurons play in memory and anxiety.

NIH Oxford Scholar

Degrees: Allegheny College, B.S., Neuroscience & Psychology, 2009

NIMH

Lucas.Glover@nih.gov

MENTORS

Dr. Heather Cameron (NIH)

Dr. David Bannerman (Oxford)

Research Interests: Immunology, Infectious Diseases other than Virology, Virology / Vaccine Development

Jessica Hostetler graduated cum laude from Duke University in three years with a B.S. degree in Biology.  Her undergraduate research experience ranged from drug research in the oncology lab of Dr. Susan Ludeman to molecular evolution work in the labs of Professors John Mercer and V. Louise Roth. Hostetler joined the Genome Finishing and Analysis group at the J. Craig Venter Institute (then TIGR) in 2003.  Using labwork and bioinformatics tools, she produced complete genomes for use in comparative and phylogenetic analysis to understand virulence, host adaptability, and evolution from bacterial and viral pathogens (e.g. Escherichia coli, influenza viruses) including agents of bioterrorism (e.g. Vibrio cholerae, Yersinia pestis) to eukaryotic organisms (e.g.Trypanosoma brucei, Ixodes scapularis, Glyptapanteles indiensis), as well as the recent Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0, the first self-replicating synthetic bacterial genome.  She contributed to completing hundreds of diverse genomes, leading to the co-authorship of 11 papers. Hostetler managed the group from 2007-2011, and under her leadership, the group finished and submitted thousands of Influenza genomes to GenBank as part of the Influenza Genome Project supported by the NIAID Genomic Sequencing Center for Infectious Disease (GSCID).  She also managed improvement of reference genomes for the NIH Human Microbiome Project (HMP), the Medicago truncatula Genome project, a number of GSCID prokaryotic and viral genome projects, and bacterial genomes for JCVI’s Synthetic Biology group. She wants to utilize her genomics skills to solve problems affecting human health more directly, focusing on the interplay between the immune system and infectious disease agents. The advancement of genomics has the continued potential to quickly detect potential drug targets or hasten vaccine development. Her ultimate career goal is to perform globally relevant immunology and infectious disease research coupled with science management. 

Research Interests: Vector-pathogen Co-evolution, Functional Genomics, Global Health

Stefano Iantorno graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Integrative Biology and a minor in Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley, with high honors and distinction in general scholarship. Born in San Francisco, Stefano holds a dual citizenship from both the United States and Italy.  After being raised in Italy, Stefano returned to the US and enrolled at City College of San Francisco. There he worked as a lab assistant in the Chemistry Department and as a General and Organic Chemistry tutor, and was the recipient of three scholarships, including a National Science Foundation STEM Scholarship, before transferring to UC Berkeley. He became involved in scientific research his first semester at UC Berkeley, when he joined the lab of Prof. Patrick O’Grady to work on the phylogenetics and evolutionary differentiation of Hawaiian Drosophila. After being awarded a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Stefano joined a second lab on campus, and under the mentorship of Prof. Rauri Bowie and Prof. Rasmus Nielsen designed an international independent research project for his senior Honors Thesis. Combining funding from the SURF fellowship with a Gilman International Scholarship awarded by the US State Department, he was able to spend 4 months in Central America. There he did research work in the field while attending a study abroad program based in Monteverde, Costa Rica. He presented the preliminary results of his work, which focused on cryptic speciation within the bird species Corapipo altera, at several conferences in the US and abroad, and won an honorable mention at the UC Education Abroad Program Research Awards. After taking a class in Biochemistry, Stefano’s interest in molecular biology led him to join the lab of Prof. Elizabeth Blackburn, a Nobel Laureate who earned her doctorate from Cambridge and was co-discoverer of the enzyme telomerase, at the University of California, San Francisco. There, he cultured CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in vitro and documented the effects of different stress hormones on cell proliferation and telomerase activity.  As an NIH Oxcam Scholar, Stefano plans on focusing on molecular mechanisms of mosquito vector susceptibility to the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, in collaboration with investigators at the NIH Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research and at the Sanger Institute, University of Cambridge.

iantornosa@mail.nih.gov

MENTORS

Dr. Carolina Barillas-Mury (NIH)

Dr. Oliver Bilker (Cambridge)

Adam Knight

NIH Cambridge Scholar

Degrees: University of Alabama, B.S., Biology, M.S. Cell/Molecular Biology, 2011

NINDS

knightal@mail.nih.gov

MENTORS

Zu-Hang Sheng (NH)

Michael Coleman (Cambridge)

Research Interests: Neuroscience, Genetics & Neurodegenerative Diseases

Adam Knight graduated from the University of Alabama with a B.S. in Biology in 2009 and received his M.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology in May of 2011. As an undergraduate and M.S. student, Adam conducted research in the lab of Drs. Guy and Kim Caldwell utilizing the microscopic nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to investigate genetic factors associated with alpha-synuclein toxicity in Parkinson’s disease (PD). As an undergraduate student in the Caldwell lab, Adam also collaborated with the lab of Dr. Gordon Lithgow at the Buck Institute for Age Research, investigating the role of cell cycle genes in PD, and with Dr. Michael Aschner’s lab at Vanderbilt University investigating the effects of manganese toxicity in PD.  As a graduate student, Adam investigated the effects of aging on proteotoxicity and neurodegeneration; he also collaborated with the lab of Dr. Dimitri Krainc at Harvard Medical School on two separate projects related to lysosomal dysfunction in PD, and with Dr. Michael Oldstone’s lab at the Scripps Research Institute to create a new model for studying neurotropic viruses. Adam has presented his research at five national/international conferences and coauthored six publications in peer-reviewed journals, including reports in PNAS and Cell.  Adam has additional papers in preparation, including a large first-author paper he is submitting to Nature Genetics. As an NIH Cambridge Scholar, Adam is investigating mitochondrial transport and quality control, and hopes to discover better therapeutics for PD. Adam is a 2009 USA Today Academic All-American, winner of the 2009 University of Alabama Alumni Outstanding Senior Award, winner of the 2009 University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Merit Award, Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award winner in 2008 and Parkinson’s Association of Alabama Scholar in both 2007 and 2008. He also served as the Head Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of Biological Sciences at UA, Undergraduate Teaching Assistant and Mentor for undergraduate student researchers in the Caldwell lab. The twin brother of a college football and rugby player, Adam is an avid sports fan and looks forward to playing rugby at Cambridge.

Research Interests: Biomedical Engineering, Biophysics, Infectious Diseases other than Virology, Molecular & Cellular Biology

A native of Texas, Jason has also lived, worked, and studied in Utah, the Dominican Republic, California, Georgia, France, and New Jersey. He graduated with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Biochemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2011. While at Georgia Tech, Jason worked for three semesters for Exxon Mobil as part of the co-op program. He spent a semester each in refining, business, and R&D settings on a range of projects including improving operation of fluidized catalytic crackers, optimizing supply chains, and modeling reactor beds. Jason worked for two years in the lab of Dr. Loren Williams at Tech. His primary project focused on attempting to crystallize a projected ancestral mini-ribosome. This mini-ribosome, composed of the highly conserved PTC and the tails of several ribosomal proteins, is an attempt at resurrecting a functional ribosome as present at the time life diverged from a last universal common ancestor. Initially Jason focused on determining and optimizing the procedures for the production and purification of the RNA he required. He has spent much of the past year attempting to crystallize the mini-ribosome for x-ray crystallography and has analyzed several rounds of potential hits at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Lab. For his PhD, Jason hopes to use structure based techniques, genetics, and biochemistry to delve into the intricacies of translation. In the long term, Jason would like to use structural techniques to determine the long term effects of micro-gravity environments on disease development through research as an astronaut on the ISS. True to his southern roots, Jason is an avid griller. He spent much of his free time this past year teaching fellow students at the I-House, a living-learning community at Tech, how to grill and BBQ. He looks forward to introducing this esteemed Texas tradition to his fellow students at Cambridge. Jason also enjoys backpacking and looks forward to exploring the mountains, dales, and lochs of the UK.

Research Interests: Clinical Neuroscience, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Multiple Sclerosis, Neural Stem Cells, Neurotoxicology

Muktha's research interests currently lie in the field of neurodegeneration and discovering possible treatments for neurodegenerative disorders. Specifically, she is ultimately interested in looking at stem cell treatments for these disorders. Muktha plans to pursue a PhD at the University of Cambridge under Dr. Robin Franklin in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences. She will be working on a project dealing with the effects of age on gliotic scars and demyelination in a transgenic mouse model.  Along with Dr. Franklin's lab,she will be partnering with Dr. Bibiana Bielekova at the NIH and intends to study similar factors using samples from patients with Multiple Sclerosis. Her project will study the capacity for effective remyelination with robust macrophage response in toxin-mediated demyelination/remyelination animal models. The part of the project performed in Dr. Bielekova’s laboratory (NIH) will attempt to translate these observations into the human system with the goal to define molecular and functional characteristics of the monocyte/macrophages that promote effective remyelination in humans. During her undergraduate career, she conducted research on neural stem cell and progenitor cell cultures at UGA in Dr. Steven Stice's lab and developed a passion for neuroscience. She researched the effects of Manganese on neural cell growth and differentiation and also worked with transgenic mouse models through the NYU Summer Undergraduate Research Program to study potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease. Along with her research experience,she spearheaded efforts for sustainable solutions through the Go Green Alliance, a coalition of UGA environmental groups. To date, she has earned many distinguished awards and honrs including the Goldwater Scholarship, a National Science Foundation Grant (Partnership in International Research & Education Grant), and a Clinton Global Initiative Grant to name a few.

Research Interests: Cancer & Oncological Sciences, Pharmacology / Physiology

Kristen graduated from George Washington University summa cum laude with dual degrees in Biology and Art History.  Her undergraduate studies were partially funded by a GWU Presidential Academic Scholarship, and she was inducted as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Upon graduation, Kristen accepted a research position at Sanaria Inc., a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and production of a live-attenuated sporozoite malaria vaccine.  Under the direction of Dr. Stephen Hoffman, she investigated cryopreservation of Anopheles stephensi mosquito eggs. Additionally, she was involved in vaccine research and development for a Phase I clinical trial. In 2009, Kristen was accepted into a Johns Hopkins University and National Institutes of Health (JHU/NIH) Fellowship, where she conducted research in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Gottesman while simultaneously working towards an M.S. in Biotechnology. Here, she investigated multidrug resistance and how such resistance contributes to chemotherapeutic failure in the clinic. Kristen is interested in continuing her graduate studies in resistance mechanisms and hopes to investigate novel strategies to overcome multidrug resistance. While chemotherapy is the most effective strategy for treating metastatic tumors and hematological malignancies, nearly 90% of metastatic cancers develop drug resistance, ultimately leading to treatment failure. Even though the majority of cancer research is focused on drug development, drug resistance cannot be ignored. As cancer research moves towards personalized medicine, she believes increased focus on personalized treatment for drug resistant cancers will become standard practice.

Arianne Richard

NIH Cambridge Scholar

Degrees: Columbia College, Columbia University, B.A., Biochemistry, 201

NIAMS

richardac@mail.nih.gov

MENTORS

Dr. Richard Siegel (NIH)

Professor Ken Smith (Cambridge)

Research Interests: Epidemiology / Population Studies / Biostatistics, Genetics & Genomics, Virology / Vaccine Development

Brittany Shepherd graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Indiana University-Bloomington Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Art degree in both Biochemistry and Art History. She also received academic distinction in the Leadership, Ethics and Social Action Program through IUB’s Hutton Honors College.  As an HHMI research scholar, Brittany studied evolutionary biology in the laboratories of Michael J. Wade and Armin Moczek, asking a fundamental question in biology of how novel phenotypic traits originate and diversify in nature. Conjointly with both labs, she studied the developmental plasticity and origin of novel traits, using growth manipulations to address physiological mechanisms of phenotype formation and evolution. These studies were complimented with investigations in the genetic regulation of phenotype expression and diversification through developmental genetic and molecular tools. Her honors thesis was published as first author in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology. As a medical student, she has dabbled in the world of clinical science by performing a retrospective cohort study on the clinical outcomes of HIV patients co-infected with hepatitis B or hepatitis C receiving orthotopic liver transplant with the Department of Infectious Disease at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. This work was honored as a featured poster for the HIV/AIDS division of the Infectious Disease Society of America international conference in Vancouver, Canada last fall. At Ruth M. Rothenstein CORE Center—a clinic for the prevention, care, and research of HIV and other infectious diseases—she initiated a randomized comparison of Virco®TYPE HIV-1 testing versus expert interpretation of genotypic results for control of HIV-1

Research Interests: Biomedical Engineering, Cardiovascular Sciences, Imaging & Neuroimaging

Michael Tee is a graduate of Portland State University where he received a B.S. in Biology (honors). He is currently an MD/PhD student pursuing his degree through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Oxford-Cambridge (OXCAM) Program, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine (CCLCM) and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine MSTP program. Having completed two years of medical school, Michael has begun his PhD research this year with Dr. David Bluemke, MD/PhD, of the NIH and Dr. Alison Noble, PhD, of Oxford University. He hopes to merge Dr. Alison Noble’s engineering experience with that of Dr. David Bluemke’s clinical experiences to solve important issues in the field of cardiac imaging. His current research aims include developing methods to better characterize cardiac tissue properties with cardiac computed tomography (CCT) along with cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and echocardiography. Michael was the recipient of two NIH fellowships for scientific research conducted at the NIH, a number of local awards as well as two undergraduate full ride academic scholarships. Michael had several research experiences leading to a number of posters and oral presentations at national meetings including the American Society of Echocardiography, American College of Cardiology, Radiological Society of North America and American Society for Radiation Oncology.  Away from the lab, Michael enjoys rock climbing, basketball, tennis and running.  As the nation undergoes healthcare reform, he also has developed an interest in healthcare policy. He enjoys learning about how the United States healthcare system works and how it might be improved.

Research Interests: Stem Cell Biology, Cancer, Neuroscience

Casmir Turnquist graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and English in 2010. She graduated with Comprehensive Honors, was the recipient of the Trewartha Senior Honors Thesis Award, the Wisconsin Wirth Scholarship, and the Morgridge Center Award for Public Service and Civic Engagement. As an undergraduate, Casmir investigated stem cell-based replacement therapies to repair neurological damage following ischemic stroke with neurosurgeon, Dr. Mustafa Baskaya, for three years. Support from the Wisconsin Wirth scholarship allowed Casmir to conduct research as an undergraduate at the University of Oxford with Dr. Ole Paulsen. She explored the maintenance of late-phase long term potentiation through dopamine. For her Senior Honors Thesis, Casmir examined the transplantation and integration of Sox5-expressing neural stem cells into the injured brain under the guidance of Professor Ronald Kalil. Casmir followed her interest in neural stem cells during her MSc at the University of Oxford, where she was a co-author on a paper in Brain demonstrating inflammation-induced changes in neocortical progenitor proliferation and lineage determination with Dr. Zoltan Molnar. She also investigated the regulation of neurogenesis through FGF intercellular signaling with Professor Colin Akerman. For her doctoral work, Casmir will explore the role of tumor-suppressor proteins p53 and ASPP in the control of stem cell proliferation and differentiation and their contributions to tumorigenesis and neurodevelopmental disorders with Professor Xin Lu, Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Oxford, and Dr. Curtis Harris, Chief of the Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis at NCI/NIH. Outside of her research activities, Casmir taught undergraduates at Wisconsin as a Fellow in the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program, served as President of the Honors Student Organization, and was on the editorial staff of the Madison Review literary arts journal. She is an avid skater and qualified to represent the USA in an international synchronized figure skating competition. Casmir continues to skate at Oxford.

Research Interests: Synthetic & Systems Biology, Structural Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology

Madhvi first became interested in research as a high school senior when she was accepted into the Southern California Academy of Sciences Research Training Program. Through this program, she had an opportunity to join the lab of Prof. Bogi Andersen at the University of California, Irvine. There, she performed computational studies to identify direct binding sites of a transcription factor implicated in breast cancer, the results of which she presented at the American Junior Academy of Sciences meeting in 2007. During her first semester as an undergraduate student, she was fascinated when she heard a guest lecture by Dr. Chris Anderson about how synthetic biology principles were being used to design a tumor killing bacterium. Determined to work on this project, she joined the lab of Prof. Adam Arkin where Dr. Anderson was a post-doctoral fellow and later followed him when he started his own lab. During this time, she worked on testing the ability of synthetically-designed bacterial systems to escape from the vacuole after entering mammalian cells. In the summer of 2008, she was given the opportunity to be a member of UC Berkeley's International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition team. In a span of 3 months, the team was able to genetically program E. coli to perform a plasmid recombination in vivo and then lyse, thereby releasing the desired project. For their work, the team was recognized as one of 6 finalist teams out of over 80 teams from around the world. The encouraging results of the team inspired Madhvi to lead efforts in the Anderson Lab to optimize and improve the system which, when combined with automation, would reduce error and yield savings in time and cost for high-throughput plasmid manipulations. For her doctoral degree, Madhvi hopes to understand signal transduction in bacterial chemotaxis by using a combination of structural, functional, and computational studies. After finishing her undergraduate degree and before beginning graduate school, Madhvi took some time away from the lab bench to travel to India and foster her life-long passion for the Indian Classical dance style called Bharata Natyam.

Research Interests: Biochemistry, Sterol Biology, Genetics 

Christopher Wassif graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 1996.  After joining the laboratory of Dr. Forbes Porter, he spent nearly the last 15 years focused on dysmorphology due to disorders of cholesterol homeostasis.  The primary focus of his research has been on two autosomal recessive disorders. The first is a disorder of cholesterol synthesis known as Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS).  SLOS is caused by mutations of the gene 7-dehydrocholesterol reductase (DHCR7). Mutations in DHCR7 results in the abnormal accumulation of 7-dehydrocholesterol (7DHC) or its isomer 8-dehydrocholesterol and the decrease of cholesterol levels. Chris cloned DHCR7 in 1998, and proved that it was in fact the gene responsible for SLOS.  Since that time, he has made several mouse models and continued the basic research into secondary effects found in SLOS.  There is currently no FDA approved therapy for SLOS and Chris' work continues to seek effective treatment options.  In 2009, he was selected to serve on the board of scientific advisors for the Smith-Lemli-Opitz/RSH Syndrome Family Group. The second disorder he has focused on is Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC) which is a rare neurodegenerative lethal disease caused by mutations in one of two different genes--NPC1 or NPC2.  The effect of these mutations is the accumulation of unesterified cholesterol and glycosphingolipids (GSLs). The late endosome/lysosome of the cells ultimately leads to apoptosis.  The early cellular cascade is being unraveled.  The process begins with sphingosine storage leading to a reduction in lysosomal calcium uptake and a consequent deficiency in NAADP mediated calcium release from the lysosome.  This in turn blocks the endocytic pathway causing the storage of all GSLs, sphingomyelin and unesterified cholesterol.  Chris' research has focused on understanding the early processes of the biological cascade, looking for biomarkers of the disease and points of early intervention for drug therapy. To date, he has published over 30 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and has been invited to present his research at numerous international conferences and workshops.  His research will continue to focus on understanding the functional consequences of these mutations to develop effective therapeutic interventions.

zavalaba@mail.nih.gov

MENTORS

Kareem Zaghloul (NIH)

Peter Brown (Oxford)

Research Interests: Neuroscience & Degenerative Diseases

After spending his early childhood in Juarez, Mexico, Zar Zavala moved with his mother to El Paso, TX. At Harvard, Zar concentrated in both Biomedical Engineering and Neurobiology.  He graduated summa cum laude and was selected as a Rhodes Scholar, a Marshall Scholar-elect, a member of Phi Beta Kapa, and a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow.  As a walk-on wide receiver on Harvard’s varsity football team, Zar was a part of two Ivy Championship teams, was elected to the 2010-2011 Academic All Ivy League Team, received the Francis H. Burr award and volunteered in Boston through the team’s Crimson in the Community program. Zar’s interest in working with people led him to serve as a board member of Harvard’s Engineers Without Borders (HEWB).  As the only Spanish speaker in HEWB, Zar organized and led 3 trips to the town of Tireo, Dominican Republic.  During these trips, HEWB dug wells, distributed ceramic water filters, and gave water hygiene presentations to schools and churches.  Academically, Zar is interested in studying neuronal communication and its modification.  He spent a summer in China working for Dr. Yan Ai Mei of Fudan University.  In this project, he used whole cell patch clamping to study the effects of the antihistamine cyproheptadine on cortical neuron conductance.  At Harvard, Zar worked in Dr. Carole Landisman’s lab developing a protocol for simultaneously studying communication in multiple gap junction networks of the Thalamic Reticular Nucleus (TRN). He was able to produce a model of deep sleep in the TRN using an altered artificial cerebrospinal fluid solution.  He then used dual cell patch clamping together with calcium sensitive dyes to show that during the deep sleep state, the neurons of the TRN use gap junctions to communicate with each other more efficiently and to silence sensory input from the thalamus to the cortex. While working at the NIH and Oxford University, Zar hopes to pursue his interests in neuronal communication by studying how Parkinson’s disease alters communication between the cortex and basal ganglia. He will then study how the two most common treatments for PD, L-dopa medication and deep brain stimulation, affect this communication.