NIGMS MARC PREDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP

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I am interested in studying neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease using a combination of neurogenetics, cell biology and molecular biology. This summer at Cambridge University, I learned to do a type of fluorescence in situ hybridization called chromosome painting. I used this technique to identify the origin of chromosomal translocations in patients suffering from mental retardation. I would like to apply chromosomes painting to study chromosomal aberrations occurring in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease or stroke. Last summer at St. George's Hospital Medical School of the University of London, I learned to use flow dialysis to study artificial membranes at the macroscopic level. I also observed the use of patch clamp to study single pores. I have learned that the malfunction of calcium channels is involved in various neurological diseases. Thus, I would like to use flow dialysis and patch clamp to study calcium channels. My research work as an undergraduate at other institutions has afforded me the opportunity to study various proteins using techniques of cell and molecular biology such as cell cloning, cell culture, high presser liquid chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and DNA sequencing. I would like to continue to learn other cell and molecular biology techniques. I hope to use such techniques in a comparative study of neuronal proteins of normal individuals and individuals suffering from Alzheimer's disease or stroke.