Kotzbauer Lab

Professor of Neurology & Principal Investigator

• MD/PhD from Washington University School of Medicine.

• Graduate research focused on identifying novel neurotrophic factors that promote neuronal survival and growth, including in dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra.

• Clinical training in Neurology and subspecialty training in Movement Disorders at the University of Pennsylvania. He also completed postdoctoral research training in neurodegenerative disorders as a Howard Hughes Institute Physician Postdoctoral Fellow.

Research

• His research on Parkinson disease focuses on developing improved diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for PD, and the development of biomarkers to track misfolded alpha-synuclein accumulation in PD.

• His research is also focused on understanding disease mechanisms and developing therapeutic approaches for a rare hereditary neurological disorder known as Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy (INAD), caused by mutations in the PLA2G6 gene. 

Senior Scientist

Dhruva's long-standing interest is to understand disease mechanisms by leveraging structural studies to guide biomarker and therapy development for neurodegenerative disorders.

Current Research Focus:

Extraction and amplification of pathologic alpha-synuclein fibrils from human postmortem brain tissue to support a variety of structural and translational studies.

Using cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) to determine atomic resolution structure of alpha-synuclein fibrils that exist in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA).

Investigating the effect of alpha-synuclein fibrils in different cell and animal model systems.

Pre-clinical models to develop positron emission tomography (PET) tracers to image the distribution of aggregated alpha-synuclein in PD and MSA.

Performing in-vitro plate based and cell culture studies to understand the effects of alpha-synuclein mutations on the fibrillization process.

Contact: dhavaled@wustl.edu

Senior Scientist

Rebecca specializes in molecular biology techniques and cellular mouse models. Her innovative approach and dedication to scientific excellence continue to advance translational research.

Current Research Focus:

Generating immunoassays for human postmortem brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid from synucleinopathies including Parkinson’s disease and Multiple System Atrophy.

Identifying biochemical changes in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid in synucleinopathies, and their relationship to clinical symptoms with a focus on non-motor symptoms.

Developing biomarker assays for synucleinopathies.

Research Lab Manager

Jenn plays a key role in the lab’s administrative and research efforts and is focused on advancing research in neurodegenerative diseases.

Current Research Focus:

Developing a high throughput screening method to identify small molecule compounds that bind to alpha-synuclein aggregates in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA).

Characterizing radiolabeled compounds through affinity binding assays using amplified, tissue-seeded fibrils, and performing in vitro autoradiography with postmortem brain tissue to support the development of PET imaging tracers.

Processing human postmortem brain tissue to isolate pathological aggregates and extract neuroreceptors and neurotransmitters for downstream analysis.

Learning and optimizing methods to amplify MSA-specific alpha-synuclein fibrils from postmortem tissue to enable translational research applications.

Instructor of Neurology

Helen specializes in movement disorders and is invested in Parkinson’s disease (PD) research.

Current Research Focus:

Development of small molecule therapeutics for PD, in particular through inhibition of alpha-synuclein fibril growth

Development of biomarkers of PD from cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and skin collected from human participants

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

The goal of her research includes the development of an imaging agent that would improve diagnosis and provide a biomarker for disease progression.

Current Research Focus:

• Developing a Parkinson's mouse model and further characterization for micro PET studies.

• She has worked on developing a tissue microarray technique for high throughput screening of small molecule compounds binding alpha-synuclein.

Research Technician II

Matthew is interested in animal studies and PET tracer development.

Current Research Focus:

Helping to develop a Parkinson's mouse model and further characterization for micro PET studies.

Undergraduate Student Researcher

Ananya is rising senior with a strong interest in both medicine and research. She is a BioSURF award recipient and her research efforts are contributing to progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) studies.

Current Research Focus:

Characterization of small molecules that bind to tau pathology using qualitative and quantitative measures.