Postdoctoral Scholars

Gut-brain interaction in neurodevelopmental disorder.

RNA editing, splicing, and modifications

The temporal and spatial dynamics of estrogen signaling in the hypothalamus.

The neural underpinnings of thermoregulatory changes accompanying pregnancy

Understanding the role of autophagy/mitophagy in neurodegenerative diseases and aging

The complex interplay of metabolic disease and environmental factors.

Interaction of gut immune system and neurodegenerative diseases

Visual feature detection and visuomotor integration

Host-microbiome interaction using multi-omics systems biology approach.

Neurobiology of fly vision

Computational approaches to understand cell signaling

Bioinformatics, RNA biology, Sequencing technology

Gut microbiota, animal-bacteria symbiosis

Drug discovery, small molecule enhancers of sarcospan to ameliorate Duchenne muscular dystrophy, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, biomarker research in muscular dystrophy, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

My research focuses on characterizing cardiac fibrosis in Duchenne muscular dystrophy-associated cardiomyopathy. Fibrosis, or the excess deposition of extracellular matrix, prevents efficient cardiac contraction, diminishes regenerative capacity, and is a major barrier to therapy. The central hypothesis I am testing is that the structural, mechanical, and proteomic profiles of the cardiac ECM in the context of muscular dystrophy represent a distinct pathological microenvironment that is resistant to remodeling and negatively impacts cardiac cell function.

Almost everyone can relate to sleep disturbances at some point in their life, however women disproportionately report insomnia related disturbances. My overall research goals are to determine the biological mechanism of how stress regulates sleep and cognitive behavior in females. My career mission statement is to increase minority representation in biomedical science by educating undergraduate students in biological sciences while motivating and preparing them to be leaders in research, medicine, and education.

Cultured Meat, Tissue Engineering, and Polymer Chemistry

Interaction of food components with microbes in the gut and this interaction's effect on the brain function and neurodegenerative disease.

Skeletal Muscle Biology

Mitophagy and actin dynamics in healthspan and lifespan determination

To understand the cellular and molecular dynamics underlying neurodegenerative disorders associated with drug discovery.