**UPDATE 11/1/2024 *** This position has been filled. We have an immediate opening for a motivated and energetic scientist interested in translational neuroscience research and drug discovery. This is a highly interdisciplinary and collaborative project at the interface of preclinical epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease research, with a focus on the behavioral and pathophysiological elucidation of Read More…
Category: Drug Discovery
Gut-brain axis and the microbiome in acquired epilepsy
Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) is a single-stranded RNA murine cardiovirus from the family Picornaviridae. It is useful to model virally-induced acute seizures and encephalitis-induced epileptogenesis. Because epilepsy is an underrecognized long-term complication of central nervous system (CNS) infection, the TMEV model is invaluable to understand the complex interactions between viruses, the immune system, and Read More…
Soticlestat: a selective, potent inhibitor of the enzyme cholesterol 24-hydroxylase
Soticlestat, formerly known as TAK-935/OV935, is an investigational drug developed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals. It is a highly selective, potent inhibitor of the enzyme cholesterol 24-hydroxylase, which plays a crucial role in the regulation of neurosteroid synthesis. Neurosteroids are naturally occurring molecules in the brain that modulate neuronal activity, including in epilepsy. Our recent study adds Read More…
Heterogeneity of Seizure Susceptibility in Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that affects over 4 million people in the US alone. As the worldwide population continues to age, this number will only grow in the coming decades. Seizures in people with both early- and late-onset AD are more common than in similarly age-matched non-affected individuals. People with epilepsy Read More…
Body weight influences spontaneous recurrent seizure burden
The kainic acid (KA)-induced status epilepticus model evoked in rats is commonly used in the search for both acutely anticonvulsant and disease-modifying therapies in both mice and rats. This model includes an acute status epilepticus insult that then is followed by a latent phase prior to the development of spontaneous recurrent seizures; e.g. epilepsy. While Read More…
Cross Continent Collaboration
Back in 2018, when we could still freely travel the world for scientific collaboration, our lab was approached by a colleague in the UK interested in a new drug discovery collaboration. Dr. Alan Morgan, Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology at the University of Liverpool, contacted our group about profiling a repurposed compound his laboratory Read More…
Years of Work Distilled into a Few Tables
As I recently reviewed a set of interim data with one of my students, we both remarked at how underwhelming the data set appeared even though it amounted to weeks of work and several dozens of mice. It is sometimes striking how pharmacological evaluations, which require close to 50 animals to attain statistical power in Read More…
Pause for Reflection
Diablo lake is the second of three reservoirs created along the Skagit river in northern Washington state in North Cascades National Park. This lake was formed with the completion of the Diablo dam in 1930 to generate hydroelectric power for the city of Seattle. The resulting series of reservoir lakes fed by glacier melt provide Read More…
Return to Lab Work SOPs
This spring has been quite an adventure! We are now trying to work under appropriate standard operating procedures (SOPs) to conduct essential biomedical research in the time of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. As a result of animal allergies, many personnel on our research team are quite accustomed to working with masks on (i.e. N95s!). We often Read More…