The objective of this study is to explore multiple experimental approaches to research how neurotransmitter norepinephrine regulates cellular function and tie it back to neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's. The intern will see how norepinephrine regulates calcium signaling and inflammatory responses in iPSC-derived microglia and neuronal cultures. These cultures are relevant to studying Alzheimer's as early degeneration of noradrenergic neurons leads to reduced norepinephrine levels and disfunctional neural and immune function. The intern will specifically focus on genetic variations such as 22q11.1 and 16p11.2, which are associated with altered synaptic function and neuronal excitability, to see how this variation influences cellular responses with norepinephrine. These changes might alter signal transduction pathways of specific receptors, which could shift calcium signaling and inflammatory responses.

The intern will be gaining hands-on experience working with several different assays and maintaining iPSC-derived cultures. Additionally, the intern will learn/perform calcium mobilization assays using purinergic stimulation to see how norepinephrine levels change these responses, assist with immunofluorescence assays (IFAs) and perform gene expression analyses to develop quantative data analysis skills. By the end of this internship, the intern will understand how norepinephrine influences neural and immune cell function and gain research skills.

Expectations:

- Actively work/engage in experimental design and analytical components of the project

- Document progress that is done with each experiment (mini progress reports) 

- Meet with mentor daily to go over experimental design, planning, data review, and tracking progress

- Provide weekly updates during lab meetings; communicate my understanding of the material, show progress, and receive feedback

- Analyze and interpret data with normalization and statistical methods.

- Generate publication-quality figures and learn to clearly communicate those findings (written reports + oral presentation)

Deliverables:

- Perfect at least two of the folowing skills: ELISA, IFA, calcium mobilization, etc.

- Work a minimum of 20 hours a week in the lab

- Work on designing a project, experiment design and timelines

- Final written report with background, methods, results, and interpretation of the work done

- Final presentation summarizing the report, connecting it back to neurodegenerative diseases and neuromodulatory signaling