Phillip Mackie
Phillip Mackie is a 3rd year student in the MD-PhD program at UF. He joined the Khoshbouei lab after completing his undergraduate education under the Medical Honors Program at UF, a combined B.S.-M.D. program.
Phillip is primarily interested in studying neuro-immune communications in health and disease. His previous work at the lab has focused on a functional link between dopamine homeostasis and inflammatory response in human macrophages that is dysregulated in Parkinson’s Disease. Numerous reports support the notion that peripheral immune dopamine homeostasis is closely tied to inflammatory response, which is increased in Parkinson’s Disease. The present findings implicate peripheral immune dopamine homeostasis as a potential target in PD. He aims to broaden his scope of study on additional mechanisms by which the peripheral immune system contributes to Parkinson’s Disease pathology.