Study the effect of receptor tyrosine kinase EphA4 in neurodegenerative processes, particularly amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Participate in designing and testing EphA4 peptide antagonists for neuroprotection. Examine potential biomarkers for the upregulation of EphA4 in the hippocampus of the AD mouse model. ● Maintaining mammalian cell lines (i.e., HEK293AD and PC3)● Constructing plasmid vectors for transfections● Assessing agonist/antagonist peptides’ potency via Tyrosine phosphorylation using ELISA● Maintaining mouse colonies (genotyping)

Routinely work in a range of biological assays and high throughput screening procedures at the Wisconsin Small Molecule Screening Facility. Participate in literature research and data analysis for the chemical genomic library. Set up, calibrate, and maintain laboratory robots & equipment. ● Maintaining mammalian cell lines (i.e., MCF7 & 6d-Het)● Developing compound maps for 96- or 384-well plates to use in the Labcyte Echo Technology robots● Providing technical support for the Labcyte Echo Technology robots and equipment● Analyzing compound potency data using Prism

Study the effect of oxidized lipids on exacerbating gut inflammation and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) in animal models (swine and mouse models). Examine the change in gut epithelial morphology and villi histology. Characterize the change in microbiome and mycobiome due to high oxidized lipid diets.● Maintaining laboratory animal-related equipment (sanitation of animal housing and drinking devices)● Performing animal husbandry (daily feeding, weighing, administrating DSS)● Assisting pre- and post-surgical care to animals (induce/monitor anesthesia in animals, perform aseptic microsurgery, organs harvesting)● Assessing morphology and histology using ImageJ● Performing rt-qPCR and gel electrophoresis to analyze changes in gene expression