Sydney Nagy
Program: Unspecified
Current advisor: Rotating in the lab of Aisling M. Chaney, PhD
Undergraduate university: Stanford University
Research summary
During my first research rotation, I focused my time in Dr. Tammie Benzinger’s laboratory. The Benzinger Lab uses novel positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images to investigate biomarkers in aging and very early neurodegenerative diseases. Alzheimer disease (AD) is preceded by at least a decade of clinically silent brain changes (termed “preclinical AD”) that ultimately result in declines in memory and thinking. Inflammation in the brain plays an important role neurodegenerative diseases, particularly in the transition from normal cognition to dementia, but we lack easily accessible tools to identify neuroinflammation. These projects use novel brain MR and PET imaging tests to examine inflammation during the stages of preclinical and clinical AD.
During my second research rotation, I focused my time with Dr. Aisling Chaney in her laboratory. The MIND (Molecular Imaging of Neuroimmune responses in Degeneration) Lab aims to enhance understanding, detection and treatment of devastating neurological diseases through the development and evaluation of noninvasive translational molecular imaging strategies. There is a particular interest in the relationship between peripheral and central nervous system innate immune responses and how this crosstalk affects disease development and progression of neurological disorders. The MIND Lab utilizes existing and novel molecular imaging strategies to characterize the role of peripheral and central innate immune cells in the initiation and progression of neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases.
Graduate publications