Ashley and Andreas

Lab manager, Ashley Brown, and research assistant, John Apostolides, are hitting the ground running after starting this spring. Currently, they are starting first experiments while continuing to set up the laboratory space in Mellon and maintain the website.

Ashley, the virus guru, is bringing her extensive training in molecular biology to get the lab up and running and establish the necessary protocols. She is using high-throughput reporter assays to study how genome sequence controls gene expression in the brain. This technique will allow the laboratory to validate and refine computational models that link genome sequence changes to disease and behavior.

Having launched the website, John is working with undergraduates in the laboratory to analyze high-throughput epigenetic data that can help us understand aging and Alzheimer’s disease.