Visitor of the Week: Steven Chen

Meet Steven Chen of the Indiana University School of Medicine. A third-year PhD student in the Medical Scientist Training Program, Steven is also a member of Yunlong Liu’s lab in the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. He is on campus for his very first course at CSHL – Advanced Techniques in Molecular Neuroscience – and is considering coming back for the next Genome Informatics meeting.

What are your research interests? What are you working on?
I am interested in the regulation of messenger RNA splicing by RNA-binding proteins in the brain. I am taking an informatics approach to understand these splicing mechanisms that affect posttranscriptional processes.

How did you decide to make this the focus of your research?
I have been interested in RNA processing since my time in Amy Gladfelter’s lab when she was at Dartmouth College. We studied how cells are organized in time and space, specifically how RNA transcripts are trafficked and partitioned within the cell. As my interests developed during undergrad, I became more interested in genomics and how they can inform new hypotheses on molecular mechanisms. With the advent of RNA sequencing, we can now profile thousands of splicing profiles at once. I have made my focus to study RNA processing in the brain since it is particularly enriched in posttranscriptional regulation.

How did your scientific journey begin?
My scientific journey began as a little kid joining my parents on weekend trips to the lab during their postdocs. To pass the time, I would assist my mom in labeling tubes. During my senior year of high school, I worked in Irina Petrache’s lab studying how e-cigarettes and nicotine can damage lung endothelial cells. I would also shadow Dr. Petrache when she saw chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients in clinic, and this inspired me to become a physician-scientist.

Was there something specific about the Advanced Techniques in Molecular Neuroscience course that drew you to apply?
I was primarily drawn to the Advanced Techniques in Molecular Neuroscience course by the scientific reputation of the instructors and guest speakers. I knew I was here to learn, and it is a blessing to be able to do so from such great minds. In addition, I had been analyzing data from the techniques taught in the course, and I wanted to be able to design and implement these on my own.

What and/or how will you apply what you’ve learned from the course to your work?
Since I come from a largely computational background, I have already learned a lot about the time and effort it takes to carry out experimental techniques like culturing astrocytes, single nuclei isolation, and making bacterial artificial chromosomes. I have also gained more scientific insight into neuroscience and have learned so much about the role of glia. Furthermore, I have acquired newfound appreciation for the history of how we have accumulated all this knowledge in the field. This will inform my critical thinking in discussions with my colleagues at home.

What is your key takeaway from the course?
The culture of being in Cold Spring Harbor almost magically allows course participants to freely speak about scientific ideas and even question canonical thinking. The people here are so inquisitive – it is almost like an incubator for new theories of molecular neuroscience. The guests come from all over the globe, but we all share a passion for understanding even the most basic of molecular mechanisms. It is a really special place to be at even if only for just two weeks.

If someone curious in attending this course asked you for feedback or advice on it, what would you tell him/her?
I think it is definitely worth the time spent here. You will not only form many new connections but also lifelong friends! But make sure you come prepared to work hard and be challenged in thinking critically (and also maybe with some late nights in the lab).

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
The people here are awesome! Among the four courses running concurrently, there is always someone new to meet. It is easy to strike up a new conversation since we are all visitors. And we are constantly able to learn new things since everyone comes from a unique (cultural and scientific) background. The (unlimited) food is also great, so I have to control myself sometimes.

In addition to the Eli Lilly - Stark Neurosciences Fellowship in Neurodegeneration awarded to Steven, he received a fellowship from the Helmsley Charitable Trust to cover a portion of his course tuition. On behalf of Steven, thank you to the Helmsley Charitable Trust and Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute for supporting and enabling our young scientists to attend a CSHL course where they expand their skills, knowledge, and network.

Thank you to Steven 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: Dwani Patel

Meet Dwani Patel of the Medical College of Wisconsin. He is currently in the 2nd year of his PhD training and a 4th year student in the MD/PhD program. He is a member of the Ocular Gene Therapy Lab run by Dr. Daniel Lipinski. Dwani was recently at our Banbury Campus taking part in the Vision: A Platform for Linking Circuits, Perception and Behavior course. The biennially-offered course wrapped up earlier this week and Dwani shared with us his thoughts on his first course at CSHL.

What are your research interests? What are you working on?
My research interests are in developing gene-based therapies to prevent blindness arising from neurodegenerative and retinal vascular diseases. Specifically, my thesis work is focused on developing technologies to enhance the treatment and diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy in the pre-symptomatic stage of disease.

How did you decide to make it the focus of your research?
My overarching goal is to lead a research program that will directly help to improve human health and condition. At the Medical College of Wisconsin, the multi-disciplinary and collaborative cell biology, neurobiology, and vision science training program encouraged me to explore the field of ophthalmology. Here, I found Dr. Lipinski who combines exciting and promising technologies like AAV-based gene therapies and advanced imaging techniques to restore sight and prevent blindness – one of the most feared conditions that affects many in my own family.

How did your scientific journey begin?
My science career began as a Bioengineering student at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. My work was focused on integrating spectroscopy techniques and numerical methods to expand the innovative field of digital molecular pathology for cancer diagnostics. In 2013, I had the opportunity to take part in the Amgen Scholars Program at Washington Univeristy in St. Louis where I studied the molecular basis of Alzheimer’s Disease to identify novel targets for therapy. This program introduced me to the career path of a physician-scientist, and I was intrigued by the opportunity to balance a career in clinical management and translational research.

Was there something specific about the Vision: A Platform for Linking Circuits, Perception and Behavior course that drew you to apply?
A significant portion of my studies prior to taking this course focused more on clinical neuroscience and ophthalmology and less on the biology of vision and neural circuitry. I took this course to fill the gaps in my knowledge and to understand the complexities of vision and higher order sensory processing that extend beyond the eye.

What and/or how will you apply what you’ve learned from the course to your work?
This course has given me a deeper insight into the complexities of the visual circuitry and has taught me that vision impairment is far more complicated than simply being able to see or not. As a physician, the lessons learned will help me set individualized and more meaningful milestones to assess a patient’s improvement in vision. As a scientist, our discussions have given me insight into critical questions that remain to be investigated.

What is your key takeaway from the course?
Understanding visual neuroscience and neural circuitry is an incredibly challenging endeavor. Nevertheless, there has been tremendous progress. Individual groups are taking top-down, bottom-up, computational, physiologic, engineering, and biologic approaches to tackle this important question. The continued success and progress of this project will greatly depend on our ability to come together, compile, share, question, and challenge each other as we did in this course.

If someone curious in attending this course asked you for feedback or advice on it, what would you tell him/her?
This course is an incredibly unique opportunity to sit and live with some of the most profound and accomplished scientists and thinkers in our field. Take every opportunity to ask questions and learn from them.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
My favorite part of the course was without a doubt the people. Our course directors Farran Briggs and Joseph Carroll, along with our TA Lindsey Salay, did a phenomenal job organizing the course. The students were also diverse in all respects and this made for very engaging discussions.

Dwani received a scholarship from the National Eye Institute (NEI) to cover a portion of his course tuition. On behalf of Dwani, thank you to the NEI for supporting and enabling our young scientists to attend a CSHL course where they expand their skills, knowledge, and network.

Thank you to Dwani 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: 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: Neetika Jaisinghani

Meet Neetika Jaisinghani of SUNY, Stony Brook. Neetika recently joined as a postdoctoral fellow in Jessica Seeliger’s lab and is finishing up her training at our Metabolomics course. This is her first course at CSHL and we suspect to have her back on campus participating in our future metabolism and immunology meetings.

What are your research interests? What are you working on?
Metabolism plays an important role in the host pathogen interaction of tuberculosis (TB). My research interests pertain specifically to how altered lipid metabolism in the host as well as the pathogen perturb the pathology of the disease. During my PhD, I worked on how infection of macrophages alters their lipid metabolism which finally affects their inflammatory response. And now I am excited to start studying pathogen’s lipid metabolism in Dr. Seeliger’s lab.

How did you decide to make this the focus of your research?
During my initial training at Dr. Sheetal Gandotra’s lab at CSIR IGIB, India, I learnt that tuberculosis infection leads to formation of lipid-rich macrophages in granulomas, the mechanism of which was not clearly understood. I started with a biochemical approach and found out that, contrary to common belief, bacterial infection of macrophages actually did not increase synthesis of lipids in macrophages. This was when I became drawn towards understanding metabolism in tuberculosis infection. I then went on to identify necrotic cell death as the metabolic stimulus responsible for lipid-rich macrophage formation in tuberculosis granulomas.

How did you scientific journey begin?
My interest towards research developed during my PhD in Gandotra’s lab at CSIR IGIB, where I was working with a great group of people who came from different scientific backgrounds. The discussions with my PI and my fellow lab mates kept me up-to-date on the recent discoveries as well as the history of scientific revelations in TB.

Was there something specific about the Metabolomics course that drew you to apply?
While my PhD training helped me gain expertise in studying host and pathogen lipid metabolism with techniques such as biochemical pathway analysis using metabolic labelling, lipid analyses using thin layer chromatography, and confocal microscopy, I lacked mass spectrometry training essential to understanding bacterial lipid metabolism as a whole. The Metabolomics course at CSHL will be beneficial in filling that technique gap and help me answer the unanswered questions from an omics perspective.

What is your key takeaway from the course?
This is a very intensive course on metabolomics, which helped me think about the various techniques of metabolomics that I can use to answer the questions about mycobacterial metabolism. Apart from that, I really enjoyed interacting with the other students, teaching assistants, organizers and the guest speakers. I learnt a lot from their experiences.

If someone curious in attending this course asked you for feedback or advice on it, what would you tell him/her?
I am thankful to the organizers Amy Caudy, Adam Rosebrock and Justin Cross for considering my participation. The organizing team is always available and approachable to answer questions and give their insights on a specific problem. Additionally, the nature of the course is such that you learn a lot at the end of it. I strongly feel that this is the best thing there is for anyone who is beginning to study metabolism.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
I like the CSHL campus, it is very scenic and beautiful. The scavenger hunt, beach picnic and sailing trip made my stay such a memorable one. I remember telling my course mates at one point that I don’t want to leave here. CSHL is a wonderful location with a lot of history, just being here inspires me and I’ve heard many of the course mates say the same thing.

Neetika received a scholarship from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) to cover a portion of her course tuition. On behalf of Neetika, thank you to NIGMS for supporting and enabling our young scientists to attend a CSHL course where they expand their skills, knowledge, and network.

Also, thank you to Jessica Seeliger for encouraging and supporting her lab members to take part in our training courses – and simultaneously. (Nuri Kim is currently training at our Advanced Bacterial Genetics course. [http://bit.ly/cabg2019])Finally, thank you to Neetika for being this week’s featured visitor. To meet other featured scientists – and discover the wide range of science that takes place in a CSHL meeting or course – go here.

Visitor of the Week: Mackenzie Davenport

Meet Mackenzie Davenport of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Mackenzie is a graduate student and member in the lab headed by Dr. Mick Edmonds. She is currently on campus training at the 37th iteration of our Mouse Development, Stem Cells & Cancer course – her first course at CSHL.  

What are your research interests? What are you working on?
I’m really interested in the genetic mechanisms underlying disease. I’m currently working on studying genetic and molecular mechanisms involved in lung cancer pathogenesis.

How did you decide to make this the focus of your research?
Lung cancer is a devastating disease, acting as the number one cause of cancer-related deaths, and while several of the genetic drivers of lung cancer have been identified, a lot of them have been found to be “untargetable,” or cancer cells quickly develop resistance mechanisms to current approaches. This really highlighted a huge unmet need to further understand other genetic mechanisms underlying this disease.

How did your scientific journey begin?
I think high school was a really pivotal time in my life: I took an AP Biology class by an incredibly enthusiastic and talented teacher; I met a little boy battling muscular dystrophy; and a friend’s mother passed away from lung cancer. These events happening concurrently and simultaneously really inspired a need to understand how genetics and DNA were playing a role in disease.

Was there something specific about the Mouse Development, Stem Cells & Cancer that drew you to apply?
I’m really interested in mouse models and how better models can be made to more accurately recapitulate disease, so learning a lot of the techniques -- from zygote isolation and microinjection to mouse embryonic stem cell culture -- essentially how to make a genetically engineered mouse model, was really appealing.

What and/or how will you apply what you’ve learned from the course to your work?
In addition to sharing the techniques that I have learned with my lab mates, one of the biggest things I will apply to my own work is a greater perspective on cancer, especially from a developmental viewpoint.

What is your key takeaway from the course?
The course has been a fantastic experience, and one of the biggest takeaways is having been able to meet so many amazing scientists who are leaders in their fields and actually being able to learn directly from them.

If someone curious in attending a future iteration of this course asked you for feedback or advice on it, what would you tell him/her?
The course is amazing, and I highly recommend it. In such a short amount of time, there is so much information that you can learn about mouse development, the creation of mouse models, stem cells, etc. It really is a privilege to attend and is an invaluable experience.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
The campus is absolutely beautiful, and there are so many fantastic people to meet who are visiting from all over the world.

Mackenzie received a scholarship from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to cover a portion of her course tuition. On behalf of Mackenzie, thank you to NCI for supporting and enabling our young scientists to attend a CSHL course where they expand their skills, knowledge, and network.

Thank you to Mackenzie 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.