Alexandra H
- Research Program Mentor
PhD Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Expertise
Molecular Neuroscience, with an emphasis in biochemistry and structural biology
Project ideas
Are glia involved in opioid addiction?
Opioid addiction is currently at epidemic levels in the US, but we still don't fully understand how opioid addiction works. A lot of work has been done on addiction in neurons, but what role may glia, the caretaker cells of neurons, play in opioid addiction? In this project you will do research on what proteins have been identified to be involved in addiction in neurons and then use RNA and protein data libraries, such as the Ben Barres lab Brain RNA-Seq library, to see if glia could also play a role. (Image by Javier Maria Trigo from The Pharmaceutical Journal)
Can psychedelic drugs help cure PTSD?
PTSD is estimated to affect up to 3.5% of the US population each year, yet treatment options are often aren't very effective and simply act as a band-aid without addressing the underlying problem. In recent years research has been into a number of different psychedelic drugs and their effect on PTSD. This project involves researching these papers to write a scientific review article and comparing the data in each paper to make a hypothesis about which drug best treats PTSD. (Image by Sharm Murugiah from New Scientist)