Merina Varghese
University of Rhode Island, RI·Neuroscience
Alzheimer's disease does not damage the brain evenly. The prefrontal cortex, a front region involved in planning and decision-making, is harmed early in the disease.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Biochemistry
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
Alzheimer's disease
neurodegeneration
selective neuronal vulnerability
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2027
What they work on
- Map spatial changes in small molecules and proteins in the vulnerable prefrontal cortex and the resilient primary visual cortex across Alzheimer's stages, using mass spectrometry imaging with segmentation analysis on postmortem brain sections.
- Use multiplexed immunofluorescence imaging on neighboring sections to track changes in and around vulnerable pyramidal neurons, linked to clinical severity, the extent of brain damage and genetic risk.
- Align the mass spectrometry and immunofluorescence data to find metabolic and signaling changes at the region, layer and cell level, and develop and share tools for analyzing these large imaging datasets.
More about the research
The primary visual cortex at the back of the brain is relatively spared. Learning why some neurons are vulnerable while others resist could point to new ways to detect or slow the disease. This project focuses on pyramidal neurons, the main signal-sending cells of the neocortex, the brain's outer layer. It looks for the metabolic and protein-signaling pathways that make these neurons vulnerable in some regions.
Why it matters
People with Alzheimer's disease need ways to detect damage early and to protect vulnerable brain cells. By finding metabolic and protein pathways that set vulnerable neurons apart from resilient ones, this work could reveal new targets for detection or protective treatment. Shared imaging-analysis tools could also help other researchers study diseased brain tissue.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Dibyadeep Datta
Yale University, CT·Neuroscience
Define the spatial relationship between pT217Tau, an early blood and spinal fluid marker of Alzheimer's, endosome enlargement and APP/Aβ42 in postmortem human brains across Braak stages, using quantitative immunofluorescence in vulnerable and resistant cortical regions.
Izumi Maezawa
University of California-Davis, CA·Neuroscience
Map lipid and metabolite changes in single microglia near amyloid plaques, blood vessels and lipid droplet-rich ACSL1-positive cells across human Alzheimer's progression using MALDI mass spectrometry imaging with multiplexed immunofluorescence.
Guillermo Gonzalez-Burgos
University of Pittsburgh, PA·Neuroscience
Define the gene-expression markers that distinguish continuous and delayed fast-spiking parvalbumin interneuron subtypes in mouse prefrontal and visual cortex. Patch-seq links RNA, electrical activity and shape in single cells.
The school
University of Rhode Island: 9 labs on PI Pages, $137M a year on research, 93 research doctorates a year.
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