LUIZA SAO PEDRO ROMERO

Entered: Neuroscience Graduate Program NGP 2022
Mentor: Wen Shen, Ph.D.
Thesis Topic: Different Cell Types and Functional Relevance of a Novel Subgroup of Retinal Ganglion Cells
BS Neuroscience & Behavior, Florida Atlantic University

“I am particularly interested in Neurophysiology, which studies the nervous system function. To be more specific, I am fascinated with studying synapses, which assist in neural communication, and neuroplasticity, concerning the change or reorganization of neural networks. I am also interested in the morphology of neurons, connecting their function to how they are structured. Currently, I am being mentored by Dr. Wen Shen while researching neurons in the mouse retina. Dr. Shen has been assisting me on using electrophysiology techniques, such as voltage clamp and patch-clamp, to study these retinal cells. My goal is to study the neural mechanism of a new subtype of neurons in the mouse retina that expresses the receptor tyrosine kinase by using Cre techniques and intravitreal injections of AAV-GFP to differentiate neuron morphology and different drugs to identify their function and synaptic activity.

I was excited that I was able to experience three different labs in my rotations with Dr. Wen Shen, Dr. Jang (John) Wu, and Dr. Howard Prentice in my first year in the NGP. I was attracted to the Ph.D. Neuroscience programs because of the ability to have lab rotations. I believe that with these rotations I will gain a lot of research experience and be able to learn new techniques that might assist in my research. In addition to that, I am excited to be part of the FAU Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute community and participate in the growth of Neuroscience research. I hope you will consider being part of our program, and I am looking forward to the future neuroscientists that will join our community."