Marketta K
- Research Program Mentor
PhD at University of California Irvine (UCI)
Expertise
Biology (Molecular and Cellular); Neuroscience (Neurodegeneration); College applications; Life coaching
Bio
An Arizona native, I decided to stay in-state on scholarship at Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University where I quickly fell in love with biology and the life sciences. I worked in several research labs throughout my degree, working very closely with faculty at the university, eventually sparking a collaboration between them and a mentor of mine from a previous internship at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in downtown Phoenix. This collaboration led to my honors thesis project, in which I conducted an investigation into molecular mechanisms of psychological stressors and the recovery period in the brain. My project titled, "The Proteomic Profile of Chronic Stress and Recovery in the Hippocampus," was awarded the ASU School of Life Sciences' Student Innovation Research Challenge grant and I presented my work at several of the university's year-end departmental seminars, as well as the international Society for Neuroscience conference. Upon defending my honors thesis, I graduated summa cum laude with my honors degree in Biological Sciences (Genetics, Cellular & Developmental Biology). I moved out to sunny California to follow my passions for teaching and research at the University of California, Irvine, where I joined the Interdepartmental Neuroscience PhD Program, earned my Masters degree in Neurobiology, and successfully advanced to PhD candidacy. I completed and publicly defended my PhD thesis dissertation project in the area of drug discovery and protein post-translational modifications in Huntington's disease (HD) as part of my lab's global efforts to develop therapeutic strategies for curing HD. In my free time I enjoy being in nature, whether it's going to the beach or hiking a Southern California trail. I also love everything film/tv/acting, dance! More recently I've started learning how to ice skate, TaiChi, and even a little bit of Korean.Project ideas
You are what you eat How a diet’s macromolecular composition affects your microbiome
In this project you will explore the biology of the microbiome and how it plays an important role in human health, including the health of our guts, metabolism, and even our moods. You will explore the foundations of how the macromolecular content of what you eat influences key bacteria known to exist in your gut. For example, does a diet predominated by carbohydrates vs protein vs fat affect the relative microbial population size and density? How might changes in the microbiome then have an effect on an organisms' digestive health and behavior? The project will culminate in a long-form research report about your experimental design, execution, results, and conclusions, with real-world implications that can be applied to the numerous diet crazes that take rotation in our culture!
Exploring the Effects of Huntington's Disease on the Brain
Huntington's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that has devastating effects across a person's cognitive and motor abilities, usually resulting in additional psychiatric disorders. In this project we will dive into the molecular and genetic basis for what causes this disease, how disease progression affects a person's quality of life, and how these genetic differences eventually lead to the structural atrophy of the striatal and cortical connections in the brain. Learning objectives for the student include understanding about disease state, as well as how we can use various disease models (e.g., transgenic animal models, induced pluripotent stem cells, etc.) to better understand basic molecular biology and neuroscientific phenomena. Together we will explore the impact of HD on the substructures of the brain, genetic causes, molecular disease mechanisms, diagnoses, clinical presentation, and the cutting-edge research being conducted around the world to find a cure for HD. We will brainstorm what question you are most interested in exploring and present our research in any format of your choosing, whether it be a traditional-style research paper, a sci-ed-style YouTube video, a discussion-style podcast, or creating your own website for blog-style entries!