Since March of 2006, I am working on my Master’s Thesis in Neuroscience in the laboratory headed by Prof. Peter Clarke at the Cellular Biology and Morphology Department
Work in the lab focuses on the study of neuronal cell death and, in particular, on excitotoxicity after ischemia and neonatal asphyxia.
In my project entitled “Neuroprotective inhibition of JNK: subcellular targeting and isoform specificity” we are searching for ways to develop a cell compartment-specific inhibitor of the MAP kinase JNK, which has been shown to be essential in mediating excitotoxicity. In parallel, we study the presence and activation of different JNK isoforms in the cellular compartment, and their roles in excitotoxic neuronal death.
The principal methods used are: primary cell culture, immunocytochemistry, Western blots, cell fractionation, transfection, and fluorescent microscopy.
