Andy Cole Email & Phone Number

Bethesda, Md, Us

Bethesda, Md

With the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), I use electron tomography, light microscopy, and molecular biology to investigate filamentous material in the presynaptic terminal and synaptic cleft. Building upon previous work, I am analyzing patterns in the arrangement of filamentous material in the three synaptic compartments. My goal is to provide high-quality structural information about the underpinnings of synaptic transmission with a hope that it will translate into better treatments for neurological disorders.

Bethesda, Md

While a graduate student in the Laboratory of Neurobiology with Thomas S. Reese, I focused on describing the filamentous material of the presynaptic terminal and synaptic cleft that likely underpin the synaptic vesicle cycle and exocytosis of dissociated rat hippocampal cultures in resting conditions. My main mode of investigation was electron tomography; I used Amira software to segment and render the presynaptic filaments, synaptic vesicles, and synaptic membrane from 3D reconstructions. During this time, I also designed experiments to chemically stimulate dissociated neuronal cultures and prepared them for thin-section light microscopy. For the synaptic cleft work, I mentored a full-time student who produced amazing renderings of the material within the synaptic cleft. Together, we made great strides in describing the machinery underpinning synaptic function.

At Northwestern, I studied neuroanatomy and neurocytology with the world class electron microscopist Enrico Mugnaini. During my time with Dr. Mugnaini, we explored the morphology and neurocytology of mouse cochlear nucleus cell types. I was trained in post- and pre-embedding immunocytochemistry, thin section transmission electron microscopy, freeze substitution, and immunofluorescence for confocal microscopy.

As a postbaccalaureate with the Laboratory of Neurobiology, I investigated the relationship between postsynaptic density components AMPA and NMDA receptors as well as PSD-95 scaffolding protein with the lipids associated with lipid micro-domains found in synaptic membrane. Using a technique called negative stain electron microscopy, I was able to show that a subpopulation of reconstituted synaptic vesicles contained both lipid micro-domain markers and AMPA receptors, demonstrating that lipid composition at synaptic junctions could be influencing the organization of proteins and receptors associated with the postsynaptic density.

Boulder, Co

In the Mahoney Neural Tissue Engineering Laboratory, I was mentored by Rachael Mooney. Rachael and I became a formidable interdisciplinary (Biochemistry/Physics) team who developed a novel 3D degradable, porous polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogels platform and seeding system for therapeutic applications. Our system increased the cell viability, seeding uniformity, and neurite extension from standard hydrogel cell seeding platforms, at the time.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Neuroscience

Activities and Societies: Collaborative Learning and Integrated Mentoring in the Biosciences (CLIMB) | Society for NeuroscienceI focused.

Ba, Physics

Activities and Societies: Society for Physics StudentsParticipated with the Mahoney Neural Tissue Engineering Laboratory, and I was.

N/A: Transfer To 4-Year, Computer Science, Mathematics, And Physics

Activities and Societies: Math and Science Tutor | Tutor for Special Needs Students