As an associate research scientist in the laboratory of Peter Sims, my work focuses on adult neural stem cells (NSC), which continuously generate neurons in restricted parts of the adult mouse brain that functionally integrate into neural circuits. Within the ventricular-subventricular zone (V-SVZ), which constitutes the largest germinal region in the adult brain, V-SVZ NSCs generate different subtypes of olfactory bulb neurons as well as oligodendrocytes. Importantly, these NSCs exist in both quiescent and actively dividing states. In previous work I defined a combination of markers that allows the prospective purification of quiescent and activated adult neural stem cells directly from their in vivo niche. In ongoing work I aim to establish an objective platform for NSC classification based on single cell gene expression profiles. In addition, by combining classical mutational analysis of key NSC markers with single cell genomics and epigenetics approaches, I am interested in identifying intermediate transcriptional steps underlying neural stem cell activation. Our hope is that this will open potential avenues to mobilize these stem cell reservoirs and other quiescent brain astrocytes for future studies. 

Previously I completed my PhD in biology at New York University, where the main focus of my thesis was to address the effect of electrical activity on circadian transcription. Ultimately, we demonstrated a bidirectional flow of information between electrical activity and the circadian transcriptome.

My work is supported by an F32 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS090736), titled “Single-cell dissection of neural stem cell heterogeneity in vivo.”