2022 Jhodi Webster -- Jhodi works in Dr. Ashley Harms' lab, and is creating an animal model of Parkinson's Disease that more accurately incorporates all aspects of pathology, especially harmful proteins, that can damage neurons directly or through other mechanisms. With this model, we can holistically evaluate the immune system's contributions tot he major symptoms of the disease in order to expedite the development of targeted treatment options.

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2021 William Jay Stone -- Jay is working to understand the impact of pesticides in Parkinson’s Disease, with a focus on how pesticides disrupt the ability of 14-3-3 proteins to prevent protein misfolding in Parkinson’s Disease.

 

2020 Casey Mahoney -- Casey is using super-resolution microscopy techniques to determine how the combination of different protein aggregates found in the brains of individuals with Parkinson's Disease cause changes in neuron structure. She is focused on how a mutation in a gene called GBA, which increases risk of Parkinson's Disease, influences formation of Lewy pathology in the brain. 

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2019 Nicole Gallups -- Nicole continues her studies to test novel immune system therapies in models of Parkinson's Disease.

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2018 Greg Williams -- Dr. Williams received his Ph.D. in Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics in 2020. His dissertation was "The Role of T Cells in an Alpha-synuclein Mediated Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease." He is currently working as a Research Associate in the Harms lab at UAB. He is interviewing for postdoctoral positions.

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2017 Aubrey Schonhoff -- Aubrey continues her work on the role of microglia and macrophages in the brain in models of Parkinson's Disease.

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2016 Kaela Kelly -- Dr. Kelly received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience in 2020. Her dissertation was "Pharmacodynarnic Responses and Efficacies Associated with LRRK2 Inhibition." She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Duke University.

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2015 Rachel Underwood -- Dr. Underwood received her Ph.D. in Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology in 2020. Her dissertation was "Rab27 Mediated Regulation of Alpha-synuclein Propagation and Toxicity." She began a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania in Fall 2020.

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2014 Lindsay Stoyka -- Dr. Stoyka received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience in 2020. Her dissertation was "Role of Endogenous Tau on Lewy-like Pathology." A student in UAB 's Medical Scientist Training Program, she is currently in medical school at UAB.

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2012 & 2013 Aaron Thome -- Dr. Thome received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience and Immunology in 2016. His dissertation was "Microglia orchestrate the inflammatory response to alpha-synuclein in Parkinson disease models." He is currently a Research Assistant Professor at Houston Methodist Neurological Institute with a research program studying immunomodulatory therapies in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and ALS.

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2010 & 2011 Heather Allen Reish -- Ms. Reish earned an MS in Neurobiology in 2016. Her thesis was "Mechanisms of Adaptive and Immune Function in Parkinson's Disease."

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2008 & 2009 Shuwen Cao -- Dr. Cao received her Ph.D. in Genetics in 2012. Her dissertation was "Cytokine Signaling in a Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease." She is currently a postdoctoral associate at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.