People

Luis Gonzalez Reyes, MD, PhD

Research Associate Professor

I obtained an MD degree and held a faculty position at Los Andes University, Venezuela. At the Physiology laboratory under the mentorship of Dr. Luis Hernandez, I received training in behavioral neuroscience and brain microdialysis. Subsequently, I pursued further studies in England and the US, earning a PhD in Neuropharmacology from King's College London, followed by postdoctoral training at Columbia University Genome Center in New York City. I am currently investigating alterations in synaptic ultrastructure and synaptic protein content following learning and memory in animal models of Alzheimer's disease. 

Deepika Patel, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Associate

I obtained my Ph.D. from the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, where I conducted research in Dr. Buwalda and Prof. Kas’s lab investigating social hierarchy-induced neuronal plasticity in the brain areas involved in learning and memory. My research in the lab focusses on the assessment of vascular factors that contribute in the development of late onset Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, my scientific interests encompass understanding mechanisms driving pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome. I use “disease-in-a-dish” models generated from patient-derived human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) in 2D cultures and 3D-brain organoids (“mini-brains”) to examine the molecular features of these neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. 

Marta Diaz Gonzalez, PhD

Postdoctoral fellow

I obtained a Ph.D. in medical sciences from Ben Gurion University, Israel. My research interests revolve around the understanding of the molecular, cellular and physiological characteristics of engrams in health and Alzheimer's disease. I am interested in understanding how FAD-linked mutations and risk factors of LOAD affect memory encoding and retrieval.

Karen Rakowiecki, PhD

Postdoctoral fellow

My research focuses on the role of Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) in deficits in corticogenesis and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) in Down Syndrome (DS), utilizing cortical organoids. DS due to trisomy 21 (T21) results in significant developmental cortical malformation and invariably accumulation of AD pathology with aging. Approximately sixty percent of people with DS will develop AD by sixty to seventy years old. I have generated DS patient derived induced pluripotent stem cell lines in which CRISPR-Cas9 technology was utilized to normalize APP expression. I examine the effect of APP expression normalization on the development of dorsal forebrain cortical organoids and AD pathology.

Luis Aponte Cofresi, BSc

MSTP and GPN student

I am interested in the mechanism by which PICALM, a genetic risk factor of Alzheimer's disease, regulates neuronal processes that lead to vulnerability or resilience. Using CRISPR/Cas9 - edited induced pluripotent stem cell model, I study the molecular and cellular physiology of PICALM wild type and knockout forebrain neurons.

Chinwendu Nwakudu, BSc

Graduate student in GPN

I received my Bachelor of Science degree in neuroscience and psychology from the University of Chicago in 2020. During my time there, I initially explored sleep apnea-induced intermittent hypoxia leading to impairments in behavioral memory and synaptic plasticity. After graduating, my research shifted to how repeated exposure to opioids drives the development of tolerance to opioid-induced respiratory depression. Currently and in collaboration with the Alex Leow lab, I employ both neuronal cultures derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells and calcium imaging in animal models to investigate how the Alzheimer’s disease risk factor PICALM impacts synaptic morphology and function to affect memory.

Madelyn Hatfield, BS

Graduate student in GPN

I received my B.S. in Neuroscience and Behavior from the University of Notre Dame, where I worked in the laboratory of Dr. Katrina Adams examining Endothelin-1 signaling in neural stem cell responses during demyelination in multiple sclerosis. My current research in the lab focuses on utilizing iPSC-derived cortical organoids to investigate the intersection of Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease pathology.