Visitor of the Week: Annie Yao

Meet Annie Yao of the University of Connecticut Health Center. Annie is a MD/PhD Candidate in Dr. Riqiang Yan’s lab and recently trained at last month’s Ion Channels in Synaptic and Neural Circuit Physiology course.

Tell us about your research.
My lab studies the pathophysiological underpinnings of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia worldwide. I’m interested in how beta-secretase, an essential enzyme in the development of AD, regulates neuronal excitability and synaptic plasticity.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
Since high school, I’ve been interested in combining translational research with helping patients. While working at the Broad Institute/MIT after college in Dr. Guoping Feng’s lab, which studies synapse and brain circuitry dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disorders like autism and schizophrenia, I was inspired to pursue a dual MD/PhD degree with the goal of studying and treating brain disorders. I chose my project after rotating in a couple of labs and being inspired by electrophysiology as a way to study neuronal (dys)function.  

Annie patch-clamp recording of a dendrite in the hippocampal CA1 region.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
My parents are first-generation immigrants that moved to the U.S. to pursue their own graduate education in science. The strength and resilience they possessed to make that sort of leap… they have always been an inspiration to me.

What impact do you hope to make through your work?
I hope that my current and future research and clinical training will be able to directly shape patient wellbeing and improve therapeutics.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
One of my favorite parts of being a researcher is that there’s always something more to learn, a new skill to develop, a new perspective to explore.

What drew you to apply to this course?
I have heard amazing things about the Ion Channels course for many years, from both my mentors in previous labs and peers who have taken the course. I knew that this experience would be formative in my growth as a training electrophysiologist. 

What is your key takeaway from the Course; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
My key takeaway is to be persistent in your troubleshooting of the rig, and as one of our instructors emphasized at the end of our time here, to be rigorous in our practice of electrophysiology and critical about our data.

Patch clamp of a hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neuron while measuring evoked activity.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this course?
You get out of an experience what you put in! When applying for the course, be sure to emphasize how your specific project would benefit from this immersive experience. When at the course, make use of the expertise that surrounds you every day – you have access to incredible teachers/scientists/electrophysiologists who can help you answer any question you have about your project design or execution. And finally, make time for yourself - 3 weeks of nonstop ephys is gratifying but intense!

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Course?
After the last day of hands-on lab work, our cohort went on a sunset sailboat trip together. It felt amazing to be on the water, with beautiful weather and in the company of new friends.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
Being surrounded by beautiful nature the second you step outside your cabin or the lab. Cold Spring Harbor is truly such a scenic place to learn in.

Thank you to Annie for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured scientists - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Images provided by Annie Yao

Visitor of the Week: Mansi Prakash

Meet Mansi Prakash of the Central Michigan University! The postdoctoral research associate is a member of Dr. Ute Hochgeschwender’s lab in the College of Medicine. She joined us at the second virtual course on Ion Channels in Synaptic and Neural Circuit Physiology – her very first CSHL course. Mansi found the Ion Channels course “exceptionally insightful and helpful.” She also shared that the “talks were stimulating and covered different aspects of ion channels. The afternoon lab experiments filled with in-depth training from the instructors and their lab members turned out to be very informative and useful. Most importantly, profound communication at every level by the instructors, lecturers, staff and [her] fellow participants and smart use of technology helped [her] navigate [the virtual format].”

Tell us about your research.
I am using bioluminescent light from a presynaptic axon terminal, generated by a luciferase, to modulate an opsin in its postsynaptic target under experimenter-controlled introduction of the luciferase substrate (bioluminescent optogenetics (BL-OG)). The luciferase is released into the synaptic cleft in response to presynaptic activity, creating a real-time optical synapse, and because both presynaptic luciferase and postsynaptic opsin are required, only their specific connections are modulated.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
When I joined this lab, I had no prior experience in neuroscience so the first look at the primary neurons under the microscope will always remain memorable for me. With my previous experience in cell biology and tissue culture and a keen interest in cell-cell communication, I became very excited about the concept of trans-synaptic bioluminescent-driven optogenetics--‘Interluminescence’ as we call it--and about devising a method for experimenter-controlled communication between genetically defined synaptic partners. The uniqueness and versatility of this project fueled my creativity and motivated me to step out of my comfort zone to learn a range of new approaches.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
My inclination towards science started very early in my childhood with my parents being my first source of inspiration. Thereafter, throughout my academic training and research, I have been inspired and supported by great scientific minds--including my teachers, mentors and colleagues--who are helping me to develop an interdisciplinary and innovative perspective towards research. Between my first post-doc training and pursuing a second post-doc in the field of neuroscience, there was a period of discontinuity in my wet-lab scientific career and I was unsure how I would fair after the gap. But my current post-doc mentor inspired me and gave me the opportunity to start from a new platform with this project while acknowledging my interests and past expertise.

What impact do you hope to make through your work?
The requirements for an ‘ideal’ synthetic designer synapse are two independent components that can be genetically targeted to presynaptic and postsynaptic partners, that can excite or inhibit the postsynaptic partner, and whose interaction can be temporally controlled. As such, new tools that can specifically regulate these selectively connected elements are essential. Through Interluminescence, I hope to refine and provide a unique, new platform technology that will enable this crucial new level of specificity in circuit control. Alongside, I want to contribute to the community by inspiring young minds and sharing my skills and knowledge; and as a mom to a 7-year-old, I have already launched myself on this path. Also, I really do wish to convey that anything can be learned at any point in life so long as we are enthusiastic about it.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
Five years from now I envision myself as an independent researcher fueled and supported by a creative, innovative, experienced and caring team; asking and solving together pertinent questions in science.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
As a researcher, I feel privileged to be able to explore with a curious mind and to learn and re-learn. This gives me strength and purpose to continue during both triumph and failure. Also, the fact that research is ‘never-ending’ is wonderful enough to propel me positively despite challenges and roadblocks.

What drew you to apply to this course?
Due to my involvement with Interluminescence, first at the neural population level and more recently at the synapse level, I have become very aware of the dynamics of the various ion channels mediating synaptic transmission. This is an area of knowledge addressed in the course in which an immersion would be tremendously beneficial. I applied to this course because I felt that it would be a great opportunity to hear from the experts in the field and be trained in the techniques, exactly when I need it most.

What is your key takeaway from the Course; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
This course has opened a whole new door for me to view and admire the complex and intelligent electrophysiological properties of the cells. I will practice and apply the information and skills that I learnt here to design, customize, conduct, troubleshoot and analyze my patch clamp experiments for investigating Interluminescence at the single synapse level.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this course?
I appreciate the fact that this course welcomes students from a wide range of training experience so please don’t be hesitant to apply if you have just started in this field. If you love to solve intriguing electrophysiological problems, I encourage you to consider this course. I also highly recommend this course to anyone trying to find their way through the ion channels.

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Course?
The most memorable thing that happened to me during this virtual course was getting acquainted with the details of the patch ephys set-up provided to me for use during the course. It is important to understand the function and maintenance of every single part of the set-up and it was during the course’s real time experiments--under the online supervision of the instructors--that I got the chance to do it, and the interaction helped me troubleshoot various issues within and around the patch rig. I also very much enjoyed the student’s data blitz episodes.

What feedback and or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in a virtual CSHL course?
Communication is very important at every level, especially during the virtual course. Sharing individual concerns and challenges with your peers and instructors is crucial to find solutions.

Thank you to Mansi for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured researchers - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Images provided by Mansi Prakash.

Visitor of the Week: Pascal Röderer

Meet Pascal Röderer of the University of Bonn (Germany)! Pascal is a PhD student in the Institute of Reconstructive Neurobiology directed by Prof. Dr. Oliver Brüstle. He took part in our virtual course on Ion Channels in Synaptic and Neural Circuit Physiology which “was great and helped [him] to expand [his] knowledge and understanding of neural physiology and electrophysiological measurements.” And though a virtual course comes with certain limitations (e.g. hands-on training in a lab setting), the “lecturers and instructors…did an amazing job [offsetting the limitations] by answering a lot of questions around practical aspects and giving hands on tips and tricks on problems that might come up during experiments.”

Tell us about your research.
Our group employs human induced pluripotent stem cells to generate all kinds of neural and non-neural cell types of the nervous system. I am specifically interested in generating models of the peripheral nervous system, including e.g. sensory neurons, as a platform for pain research.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
After finishing my master, where I was working with a mouse model of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, I wanted to further concentrate on human in vitro systems and stem cell research. Following this, I became very interest in chronic neuropathic pain and other disorders of the peripheral nervous system, as they are affecting a lot of people while treatment options are often limited. It is very exciting and interesting trying to better understand these conditions based on human in vitro models, as translation from rodent models to human patients seems to be very challenging.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
During high school my chemistry teacher fostered my interest in science and inspired me to study biochemistry. During my studies I learned how exciting it is when solving a problem with a series of experiments. Additionally, I always find inspiration in the scientific passion and determination of other scientists.

What impact do you hope to make through your work?
I want to contribute to neuropathic pain research and hope to offer new angles of research to the community.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
I hope to having finished not only my PhD, but also an international postdoc position and being on my way to becoming an independent researcher with my own lab.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
What I really love is the adventure of learning and trying new things everyday as well as the international and collaborative spirit I experience.

What drew you to apply to this course?
I am working on the molecular basis of pain, where neural activity is often affected and increased in neuropathic pain patients, thus I wanted to learn more about the techniques to measure and analyze these effects.

What is your key takeaway from the Course; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
The Course has offered me a new insight into electrophysiological techniques and a wider set of tools to analyze and present this kind of data. I will integrate some of these techniques into the planning of new experiments, and will reevaluate the information that I gained in previous experiments and look at it from a different angle.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this course?
I would definitely recommend in participating in this course, it is a unique possibility to connect with experts in this field and get an impression of the incredible variety of possible applications.

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Course?
Having participated in this course during the Covid-19 pandemic, I am sure this was not the full or usual course experience but overall it was a really great experience! The talks and lectures as well as the presentation of student data was really amazing and inspiring. It was also amazing to virtually connect with junior researchers and the instructors and to see how scientific research can be shared -- even during times like this -- and how we all can overcome borders and barriers that might arise in our ways.

Now that you’ve taken part in a virtual CSHL course, would you like to share feedback and or advice with those also be participating in an upcoming virtual CSHL course?
Interact as much as possible with instructors, lecturers and students and use the chance to ask as many questions as you can. Above all discuss your own technical challenges and questions posed by your own research with your instructors and peers.

Thank you to Pascal for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured researchers - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Images provided by Pascal Röderer

Visitor of the Week: Sheenah Bryant

Meet Sheenah Bryant of Central Michigan University. Sheenah is an adjunct research faculty member in Ute Hochgeschwender’s lab, and a proud single mom and Native American. She is on campus for the Ion Channels in Synaptic and Neural Circuit Physiology course where she has been expanding her expertise in generalized ion channel regulation.

What are your research interests? What are you working on?
I am interested in studying the mechanisms of neural circuit formation in development. I hope to characterize changes inneurons resulting from neural hyperactivity during development, and the changes in neural circuit trajectories that control adult behavior.

How did decide to make this the focus of your research?
My dissertation focused on characterizing individual cell membrane proteins. Near the end of my doctoral work, I was introduced to novel method of neural control during a lightning talk by a member of my postdoctoral PI's lab. Those two minutes inspired me with many fundamental questions about neurons, and even our brain, that could be studied by controlling neural activity using bioluminescence-driven optogenetics. I knew immediately that this was the work I wanted to dedicate my research career to.

How did your scientific journey begin?
I have loved the creative curiosity of science since I was very young.  As a Native American and also a single mother, my path thus far has been filled with challenges of doubt and sacrifice, and great reward. I feel passionately that pursuing my dreams as a developmental neuroscientist will inspire my children and the Native American students I meet throughout my career, to pursue their dreams regardless of how unknown or difficult the journey may seem.

Was there something specific about the Ion Channels in Synaptic and Neural Circuit Physiology course that drew you to apply?
I knew this course would be an intense few weeks of classroom and lab training of powerful techniques for studying the contribution of ion channels to neuron functionality, which is at the core of my research goals. Attending a CSHL course is an amazing opportunity because they bring together experts from all over the world to instruct and lecture.

What and/or how will you apply what you’ve learned from the course to your work?
The research techniques I have learned -- such as cultured cell, tissue slice and in vivo patch-clamp electrophysiology -- has helped me to exploit my expertise of generalized ion channel regulation towards answering questions within the field of neuroscience. Each of these techniques I will need to study the relationship between ion channel activity and behavior of organisms.

What is your key takeaway from the Course?
This course is providing me with a clear understanding of how proper regulation of ion channels enables neural function and circuit formation, and the cutting edge techniques used to study these relationships.

If someone curious in attending the Ion Channels in Synaptic and Neural Circuit Physiology course asked you for feedback or advice on it, what would you tell him/her?
I highly recommend this experience to all students at the beginning of their research careers. In a very short amount of time, I successfully mastered difficult experimental techniques and learned the scientific foundation of my new field of study. I hope to attend several other courses during my postdoctoral training.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
The extremely knowledgeable instructors and guest speakers were very kind and excited to be here. It is such a fun and collegial atmosphere, which I'm sure I will take with me to my postdoctoral university.

Sheenah received funding support from her PI’s National Science Foundation (NSF) NeuroNex grant. On behalf of Sheenah, thank you to NSF for supporting and enabling our young scientists to attend training course where they expand their skills, knowledge, and network.

Thank you to Sheenah for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured scientists - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Visitor of the Week: Sofia Beas

Meet Sofia Beas of National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Under the mentorship of Mario Penzo, Sofia is part of the Unit on the Neurobiology of Affective Memory. The postdoctoral fellow is on campus attending her first course at CSHL: Ion Channels in Synaptic and Neural Circuit Physiology. 

What are your research interests? What are you working on?
My research interests are on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying motivational and affective behaviors, and how they can be dysregulated in pathological conditions. In particular, I am studying the neural mechanism by which stress impacts the neurocircuitry of the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus, an area of the brain important for linking stress detection to the emergence of adaptive behavioral responses to stress.

How did you decide to make this the focus of your research? 
I first became captivated with the area of psychology and human behavior during my undergraduate career. However, when it came time to apply to doctoral programs, I soon realized that the neuroscience field was a better fit for me as it combined the two fields I really enjoyed: behavior and science.  

How did your scientific journey begin? 
The neuroscience field fascinated me early in my undergraduate career. While working under the guidance of Dr. Laura O’Dell,  I received an undergraduate fellowship that allowed me to work full time in her lab and fully immerse myself in the neuroscience field. Thereafter, while pursuing my PhD, I joined the lab of Dr. Jennifer Bizon who mentored and gave me unbelievable opportunities that furthered my education.  

Was there something specific about the Ion Channels in Synaptic and Neural Circuit Physiology course that drew you to apply?
Since my current research interest relies heavily on using electrophysiology techniques, I applied to the course to gain exposure using different electrophysiology techniques and to learn from the experts in the field.  

What and/or how will you apply what you've learned from the course to your work? 
So far, I have learned that electrophysiology can give you a wealth of information about how neurons communicate. This technique can help decode intercellular and intracellular messages, and investigate the specific ion channels, membrane potentials, and molecules that give each neuron its physiological characteristics. Also, I will impart my new knowledge base to my fellow lab mates so they too will benefit from the electrophysiology techniques I learned at this course.  

What is your key takeaway from the course?
My key takeaway is the individualized advice on specific techniques imparted by the experts in the field. For example, Matthew Xu-Friedman gave a very interesting and insightful lecture about mEPSCs which included fun examples that really brought the point home. He also sat next to me during a lab session and imparted useful advice on how to make the recordings better. These are particularly useful because, immediately upon returning to the lab, I plan to record mEPSC from neurons.

If someone curious in attending this course asked you for feedback or advice on it, what would you tell him/her?
First, so as to easily grasp the concepts taught, I would recommend getting acquainted with the basic concepts of electrophysiology. Next, I would suggest that they come with an open mind and the mindset that this is an intensive program, yet very rewarding nonetheless. 

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
I like several things. First, I love the place, the campus is beautiful. I also like the friendships I have developed with those in the course. Finally, I must say that the food at the dining hall was quite good. 

Sofia received a scholarship from the Helmsley Charitable Trust and funding from the Society for Neuroscience’s (SfN) Neuroscience Scholars Program to cover a portion of her course tuition. On behalf of Sofia, thank you to the Helmsley Charitable Trust and SfN for supporting and enabling our young scientists to attend a CSHL course where they expand their skills, knowledge, and network.

Thank you to Sofia for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured scientists - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.