Alyssa Lawler, a third-year scholar at Carnegie Mellon’s Department of Biological Sciences, studies the function of regulatory DNA in the brain. She leverages machine learning models to “decode” the DNA regulatory programs that distinguish different types of neurons. Emerging evidence suggests that defects in regulatory regions of the genome are major contributors to neurological and psychiatric disorders. Her research group attempts to understand how these disease-associated mutations affect gene regulation. Specifically, she is working on a project focused on gene regulation in inhibitory neurons during Parkinson’s Disease progression. Click on the image to read Alyssa''s speech from the 2018 Pittsburgh ARCS Donor Reception.

Tyler Meder, a third-year scholar at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering (Department of Bioengineering) is researching peripheral nerve repair, with a focus on the immune system and aging. Immune cells play a major role in tissue repair and regeneration, however, with aging, the process for repair and regeneration begins to break down. Tyler hopes his research will help re-establish those signals in nerve tissue, which will enhance its ability to regenerate. Click on the image to read Tyler’s speech from the 2018 Pittsburgh ARCS Donor Reception.