Anthony Collins
Anthony is a third year undergraduate student, majoring in Psychology, with a focus in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience. His interests include neurodenerative diseases, the neurobiology of learning and memory, and cross studies between immunology and neurobiology. He intends on going directly into graduate school to study neurobiological sciences.
Research: Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is characterized by the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons, resulting in lack of voluntary and involuntary control of movement. These motor symptoms are the basis behind its diagnosis. While symptoms can be treated, the progression of PD cannot yet be stopped, and the mechanisms causing PD have yet to be characterized.
My research focuses on the role of peripheral myeloid cells pertaining to mouse models of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Previous research in the Khoshbouei lab has concluded that Parkinson’s patients and PD model mice possess significant alterations in monocytes expressing Tyrosine hydroxylase and Dopamine transporter relative to controls. It is known that in human and rodent models, myeloid cells are known to infiltrate the brain. For these reasons, I seek to identify if peripheral myeloid cells infiltrate the brains of PD model mice by using immunohistochemical (IHC) staining to visualize CNS-infiltrating myeloid cells in experimental sections.