Dr. Marson Putra MD, PhD – Postdoctoral Research Associate
mrputra@iastate.edu
Marson is a neurobiologist with an immense interest in epilepsy and seizure-related disorders. His research focus has been to identify biomolecular signaling involved in the progression of epileptogenesis. For instance, how aberrant astrocytes, microglia, and other supporting cells contribute to the development of neuronal hyperexcitability, and neurodegeneration leading to the incidence of spontaneous recurrent seizures. We utilize several techniques including immunofluorescence, western blot, EEG telemetry, immunoprecipitation, and many more to dissect the underlying mechanisms of epilepsy. Hopefully, understanding the causes of epilepsy will shed light on the betterment of epilepsy treatment and management.
Dr. Nyzil Massey DVM, PhD – Postdoctoral Research Associate
nyzil@iastate.edu
Nyzil completed his Bachelor of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (DVM equivalent) from India. His work invloves investigating the neurobiological changes that result from an initial seizure event in rodent models and studying how a normal brain is transformed into an epileptic brain that continues to generate several spontaneous recurrent seizures over a period. His research also focuses on studying the early effects of seizures such as neuroinflammation (reactive gliosis) and oxidative stress that later leads to neurodegeneration.
Nikhil Sanjay Rao DVM, MVSc – Graduate Student
nikhilr@iastate.edu
Nikhil is a PhD student and his research focuses on targeting the neuroinflammatory pathways in epilepsy and epileptogenesis through novel therapeutic interventional drugs in animal models of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and to study their efficacy at modifying the disease progression and neurodegenerative changes in the epileptic brain. Nikhil also serves as the President of the graduate student organization at the College of Veterinary Medicine. He enjoys mentoring and teaching Undergrad and Graduate students in the lab.
Christina Meyer BS, MS – Graduate Student
cnameyer@iastate.edu
Christina Meyer is a PhD student investigating neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in animal models of epilepsy. Specifically, she has been testing the antioxidant drug Mitoapocynin to reduce oxidative stress in the brain. There is much to discover about the brain and that’s what makes it all the more interesting. Christina is involved in the graduate community by serving on the CVM association of graduate students committee. Overall, she is excited to see what the future holds for the field of neurology and is grateful to have such a wonderful team to bring new discoveries in the field of epilepsy research.
Suraj Sundara Vasanthi DVM, MVSc – Graduate Student
surajsv@iastate.edu
Suraj is a PhD student whose research focuses on understanding organophosphate-induced epilepsy. Suraj’s research is characterized by a multidisciplinary approach, drawing on insights from fields such as neuroscience and pharmacology. Explicitly, he has been aiming to optimize the novel neuroprotective efficacy of therapeutic agents such as 1400W and saracatinib targeting neuroinflammatory pathways in organophosphate models of epilepsy.