Miles B
- Research Program Mentor
PhD at Vanderbilt University
Expertise
Neuroscience- Tau, Alzheimer's disease
Bio
I'm a post-doc in the lab of Dr. Todd Cohen at UNC where I use mouse and cell culture models to investigate the protein, Tau, and it's role in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We employ various biochemical, histological, and cell biology assays to better understand how tau becomes dysfunctional in AD and how to develop therapies to prevent tau pathology. During my PhD, I studied how manganese, an essential metal, is dysregulated in Huntington's disease (HD), a terrible, genetically-linked, neurodegenerative disease. Prior to this, I attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington to pursue marine biology, but gave up my dreams of diving with dolphins to study biomedical research. This brought me to Duke University as a research technician where I fell in love with researching diseases, and found my interest in neuroscience. The rest is history.... When I'm not actively science-ing, I'm usually hanging out with my wife and three cats. My wife and I love to cruise and travel to warm locales, but that came to a halt after COVID. Other than that, I love to fish, garden, "play" guitar, watch sci-fi movies and shows, and play video games with friends.Project ideas
Let's make YOU smarter! The role of diet and physical/mental exercise in healthy brain function.
For this project, YOU (and if you ask nicely, your family or friends) will be your very own test subject(s)! Even though there are many promising therapies for neurodegeneration on the horizon, researchers have highlighted the importance of 1) nutrition 2) physical exercise and 3) mental exercise in promoting healthy brain function and cognition throughout life. Using a free brain-training online app and the scientific method, you will determine how changes in your diet and physical/mental exercise routines can influence how fast and how well your brain functions in the short-term. We can sit down and decide how we want to test each of these three factors (i.e. Nutrition- eating veggies, taking vitamins, leaving out candy/soda; Mental exercise- doing a puzzle, reading a book, playing an instrument; physical exercise- jogging, throwing a football). At the end of your experiment, we will compare how each factor changed your "brain score". Since you'll be the test subject, you will have to be honest, rigorous, and motivated with your variables and data collection! This will be combined with a review of articles and research papers discussing how these factors promote healthy brain function. You can present this as a research paper, powerpoint, video cast, or podcast! Up to you! Prerequisites: online or phone app access to one of the various brain training apps; access to medical/scientific journal articles is helpful
Alzheimer's disease: Models, Biomarkers, Technologies, and Cures!
Alzheimer's disease is incredibly complex, but advances in the research field are being made every day! In this project, I will sit with you and decide on a facet of Alzheimer's disease (or any other neurodegenerative disease) that you want to learn more about-- whether it's model organisms, biomarkers, new technologies, or promising therapeutics on the horizon. We can choose a broad range of topics of specific interest to you. From there, I'll model "course" material (online talks, podcasts, research reviews, and primary research articles) to help you assemble all the knowledge you need to get started. You can present you findings via powerpoint, research paper, podcast, video lecture, etc.-- up to you! Prerequisites: something you want to learn more about; access to medical/scientific journal articles is helpful
The science, psychology, and physiology of pets and local critters
This project is very open ended and up to you! We do NOT need to focus specifically on neuroscience or neurodegeneration if you have other interests. I generally think science is more fun with a model organism. When I was in high school (aka long ago), I did a project on how ammonia levels (i.e. via pollution or overcrowding) in water could impact the ability of a crayfish to detect and capture prey (snails). I ended up catching crayfish and snails in a local creek and presented this at a state-wide competition. This project sparked my interest in marine biology! So if you have an idea, pet, or access to any type of local critter we can figure out a project ranging from neuroscience to marine biology to predator-prey relationships. For example: if you have a pet hamster, we can test how different stimuli, cues, or environments might modulate how they move, where they hide, or when they eat. I'm sure we can come up with something fun, interactive, and with a larger research goal in mind.