Teresa FOrtin, BSC.Lab manager/technicianI have worked at Carleton for more than 25 years and 9 years in the Hayley lab. As the lab manager, I am responsible the daily operation of the Hayley lab. I also perform administrative tasks in the lab including the purchasing of all lab supplies. As a technician, I train students and develop new technical protocols. I also advise and assist students with their techniques. I have extensive experience with histology, westerns, surgery and behavioural testing. I have recently added PCR to my skill set. I occasionally assist students with their projects, especially tissue harvest. I always like to help students as much as possible and I enjoy seeing them progress and succeed.
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Faranak Vahid-Ansari, BSC, MSC, PHD.Neuroscience research assistantParkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder resulting from the loss of dopamine cells in the brain. It is characterized by a reduced ability to move and emotional changes such as depression. Recent findings suggest that loss of other cells, like serotonin also occurs in PD and contributes to symptoms of depression in PD. My research is focused on depression in PD, which occurs before problems with movement appear. I hypothesize that depression is caused by the loss of serotonin cells early in PD that precedes the loss of dopamine cells and problems with general motor disability. To test this, I will use a PD mouse model caused by the aggregation of a protein called a-synuclein, which is responsible for injuring dopamine neurons in patients. Using this model, I will follow changes in behavior and movement of the mice and examine changes in their brain serotonin and dopamine cells. My findings should help pave the way for future new treatments to relieve the depression symptoms that are common in PD patients.
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Natalie Prowse, Bsc, msc.PhD studentI completed both my undergraduate and master's degree at Carleton University, working in Shawn's lab. I am working on my PhD, and my studies involve looking at the underlying neuroplastic mechanisms involved in mediating pathological responses to chronic stress. I am particularly interested in how Tyrosine Kinase B (TrkB) receptor isoforms (on both neurons and glia) mediate neuroplasticity in stress-related circuits involving the PFC, hippocampus, amygdala and nucleus accumbens. My studies incorporate both behavioural and biological analyses using transgenic mouse lines and primary cell cultures, examining both developmental and mature processes.
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Abbie smith, bsc.phd StudentYoung females are the most vulnerable to develop anorexia nervosa and depression. My project is interested in delineating the effect of early life antibiotic exposure and social isolation in combination with food restriction, on the central and enteric nervous system in relation to anorexia nervosa and depression. This project uses female C57BL/6 wildtype mice and a robust antibiotic regimen to induce a model gut dysbiosis, the effects exacerbated by food restriction and social isolation to create this novel model.
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sophie bechkos, bsc.msc studentMy master’s research focuses on the effects of electrical stimulation on alpha-synuclein aggregates in primary cortical neurons. I will be using wild-type and A53T human alpha-synuclein fibrils to demonstrate a sporadic and familial Parkinson’s disease pathology. My aim is to determine whether or not electrical stimulation can reduce alpha-synuclein aggregates by breaking down the fibrils.
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SAMANTHA SHAW, BSC.MSC STUDENTI have a background in psychology, and I came to Carleton to work towards a Masters in Neuroscience! My project is looking at the gut in relation to Parkinson's disease. Specifically, I am looking at the effects that LPS and Paraquat injections have on the gut microbiome of mice.
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Stephanie Hobbs, Bsc.Msc studentI completed my undergraduate honours thesis in the Hayley lab and have just started my master’s here as well! With the recent COVID-19 outbreak, as well as current understandings of Parkinson’s Disease being a multi-hit disease, my research focuses on the impact that murine hepatitis virus (MHV), a coronavirus strain, has on alpha-synuclein and subsequent inflammation in primary microglia, midbrain, and midbrain-microglia co-cultures harvested from LRRK2-G2019S colonies as a model for familial PD. My aim is to understand the inflammation and changes to alpha-synuclein progression in cell cultures treated with MHV between wildtype colonies and colonies with the PD LRRK2-G2019S mutations.
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Casssandra HiDalgo, BSC.Msc StudentI completed my undergraduate degree here at Carleton University. Now in my master’s, I am working towards tracking alpha-synuclein in a Parkinson’s Disease model. To enhance alpha-synuclein spread we are using a two-hit approach consisting of G2019S mice and A53T human alpha-synuclein fibrils, with wild-type and vehicle controls. Our hope is to better recapitulate PD pathology by correlating the timing of non-motor and motor deficit emergence to alpha-synuclein accumulation in various brain regions.
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Delenn HillsNSERC-USRA, Bsc studentI am in my 5th year of my bachelors and have been working in the Hayley lab since I completed a DSRI and an I-CUREUS at the end my second year. This year I am completing my honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Hayley. My project revolves around elucidating the function of the TrkB.T1 receptor on astrocytes using a transgenic knockdown rodent line. I hope to uncover how this specific receptor contributes to gap-junctional signalling within the astrocyte syncitium, and whether it is protective against coronavirus neurotropism.
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Other students
- Ruth Rodriguez, M.Sc Student