Thomas Krzystek Email & Phone Number

Boston, Ma, Us

Watertown, Massachusetts, United States

I design and develop high-throughput cell-based assays via automation, high-content microscopy, live-cell imaging, and biochemical approaches to identify/validate phenotypes of ALS patient-derived iPSCs and motor neurons for candidate therapeutic screening.www.als.net

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Using ex vivo mouse tissue, hiPSC-derived neurons and 3D cortical organoids, I developed high-content cell-based assays by integrating viral-mediated gene editing (AAV/Lenti), pharmacological perturbations, multiplexed microscopy, cell-painting, and live-cell kinetic imaging to investigate biological pathways that govern neuronal regeneration and cellular architecture.https://kirbyneuro.org/ZhigangHe/people/

Bethesda, Maryland, United States

I integrated advanced light microscopy and cryogenic-electron microscopy pipelines in Dr. Mizuno's structural cell biology lab at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to investigate the global remodeling of axonal organelles and cytoskeletal components during regeneration.https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/science/laboratory-structural-cell-biology#Meet-the-Team

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Using ex vivo mouse tissue, hiPSC-derived neurons and 3D cortical organoids, I developed high-content cell-based assays by integrating viral-mediated gene editing (AAV/Lenti), pharmacological perturbations, multiplexed microscopy, cell-painting, and live-cell kinetic imaging to investigate biological pathways that govern neuronal regeneration and cellular architecture.https://kirbyneuro.org/ZhigangHe/people/

Buffalo, New York, United States

In my PhD dissertation work, I employed genetic perturbations, pharmacological targeting, and multiplexed high-content microscopy with live-cell imaging. By combining patient-derived iPSCs and neurons with in vivo genetic models, I identified and validated dysfunctional cellular pathways in models of Huntington's disease (HD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and Alzheimer's disease (AD).Specifically, I interrogated differential phenotypes involving endo-lysosomes/autophagy, intracellular signaling, endoplasmic reticulum, synaptic maintenance, calcium homeostasis, intracellular trafficking, cytoskeletal components, and mitochondria.I also developed an axonal injury assay to assess the remodeling of endolysosomal, autophagic, and signaling cargoes during neuronal regenerationFurther, I conducted a mass spectrometry-based proteomics workflow with HD patient-derived hiPSC neurons to identify and validate distinct dysregulations in the kinome. This work established novel roles for GSK3B and ERK in HD-mediated neuronal dysfunction and cell death. Outside of my dissertation research, I led a collaboration that uncovered a novel role for alpha-synuclein in regulating mitochondrial homeostatic pathways related to transport, fission/fusion, mitophagy, and oxidation.

Buffalo, New York, United States

Lab instructor (physiology) for senior-level undergraduates (2019 - 2021)Lecture moderator for junior (2017) and senior (2021) undergraduatesLab instructor (biochemistry) for junior-level undergraduates (2016 - 2018)

I independently designed a two-credit course to introduce the neurobiology of inflammation and injury to senior-level undergraduates. This course explored our current understanding of the biological pathways and systems biology underlying how cells of the peripheral and central nervous system respond to a variety of inflammation-causing diseases, infections, and injuries. BIO 330 – Introduction to the Neurobiology of Inflammation & Injury

Buffalo, New York, United States

I investigated neuronal growth capacity in the context of tubulin post-translational modifications using advanced live-cell microscopy, high-content imaging, and neuronal cell cultures.This work was developed into an undergraduate dissertation and defended to earn a "Biology with Distinction" merit on my degree.

Buffalo, New York, United States

Lab instructor and lecture moderator (neurobiology) for senior-level undergraduates (2015)Lecture moderator (cell biology) for junior-level undergraduates (2014)Lecture moderator (biochemistry) for junior-level undergraduates (2013)Lab instructor (evolutionary biology) for freshman-level undergraduates (2012-2013)

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Biological Sciences

Master Of Science - Ms, Biological Sciences

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba

Bachelor Of Science - Bs

High School Diploma