Graduate Students

Carina Meinke - Integrative Biology - Neuroscience
Room 113, MC-17
Email: carnold2019@fau.edu

I am a native of Germany and pursued my Masters degree at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen studying Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies. At FAU, I am pursuing my PhD studies in the FAU-Max Planck IMPRS Program. In the Blakely lab, I am investigating the cellular, physiological and behavior impact of phosphorylation in the presynaptic serotonin transporter (SERT) using in vitro and in vivo approaches, with an eye to how altered phosphorylation drives changes in synaptic signaling and impacts risk for mental illness.

Peter Rodriguez - Integrative Biology
Room 113, MC-17
Email: prodri29@health.fau.edu

I am a Ph.D. student in the Integrative Biology Graduate Program. As a member of “Teamatode”, my work involve the use of the powerful genetic model system Caenorhabditis elegans to identify and evaluate functional properties of novel genes that regulate dopamine signaling. As altered dopamine availability in humans has been implicated in brain diseases ranging from Parkinson’s disease to ADHD and schizophrenia, my work has the potential to identify key pathways that may both support risk for multiple disorders but also shed light on novel mechanisms for treatment. My particular focus is the gene swip-10 which the Blakely lab identified as a glial-expressed regulator of dopamine neuron excitability, signaling and viability. I seek to understand the function of SWIP-10 and elucidate mechanisms by which its loss triggers dopamine neuron hyperexcitability and degeneration.

Allison Walsh - Neuroscience
Room 113, MC-17
Email: awalsh2020@fau.edu

Currently as a PhD student in the Blakely lab, I am working on the connection between neuropsychiatric disorders and altered serotonin signaling, with a special emphasis on the presynaptic serotonin transporter (SERT) and neuroinflammation. My research interests in neuroscience are broadly-speaking, the interaction between our environment, genetics, and health. Previously, I have earned a Master’s in Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a focus on environmental health. Later I pursued graduate research in the Experimental and Clinical Neuroscience program in Germany at the University of Regensburg. It was during my time in Germany that I honed my passion for better understanding the molecular and genetic underpinnings of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. Outside of the lab, I enjoy yoga and time at the beach..