Nicholas Elder Email & Phone Number

San Francisco, Ca, Us

San Francisco, California, United States

My graduate research has centered around using human stem cells to model and understand the development of the human spinal cord. I have been particularly focused on V2a interneurons, a population of spinal neurons with very interesting therapeutic implications. Since these neurons are found throughout the hindbrain and spinal cord, I am researching how transition through different progenitor states early in development which relate to axial position can influence the gene regulatory networks of V2a neurons and subsequent function.

Davidson, Nc

For my undergraduate thesis, I worked to adapt an optogenetic tool for expression in the nervous system of the model organism C. elegans. This tool would allow for dual opto- and chemical genetic stimulation of specified neural circuits and could be used to study how neuron firing paradigms effect other biological processes within neurons, such as axon regeneration.

Aurora, Co

As a GSIP Intern, I worked with Dr. Peter Dempsey to understand aspects of intestinal crypt homeostasis. We were specifically interested in the re-population of the stem-cell niche after drug-induced death of dividing cells. In my project I demonstrated that, in a 3D intestinal organoid system, Paneth cells could revert to a stem-cell state and repopulate the LGR5+ population of stem cells and that this process was mediated by Notch signaling.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Developmental And Stem Cell Biology

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Biology/Biological Sciences, General