School of Medicine
Showing 111-120 of 1,568 Results
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Andreas Blaha
Postdoctoral Scholar, Molecular and Cellular Physiology
BioOriginally from a tiny village in Northern Germany, Andreas moved to the city for his bachelor’s from the University of Hamburg. After graduating with a master’s in biochemistry from the University of Tübingen in Southwestern Germany, Andreas moved abroad for his PhD to Vienna, Austria. At the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), he discovered a complex on the sperm surface that connects to the egg membrane. Having studied the function of intricate membrane protein complexes, Andreas made the journey overseas to join the Pleiner lab and investigate how the cell manages and coordinates their production. In his free time, Andreas enjoys hiking in summer and skiing in winter.
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MacKenzie Bolen
Postdoctoral Scholar, Neurology and Neurological Sciences
BioDr. MacKenzie “Mack” Bolen’s defining research passion is to leverage accessible and modifiable lifestyle factors to mitigate neurodegenerative risk. During her undergraduate education at Austin College in Texas, she began pursuing her interest in neurodegeneration by conducting research focused on the neuroprotective benefits of the ketogenic diet. This work evolved into an honors thesis investigating markers of inflammation in saliva from contact sport athletes and culminated in a TEDx talk on sports-related brain injuries. These experiences cemented her desire to understand the minutiae of the brain and catalyzed her decision to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Florida (UF). During Mack’s training under Dr. MG. Tansey at UF, her dissertation work generated global collaborations centered on a multiomic approach that leverages machine learning to identify peripheral biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets to slow the onset or progression of Parkinson’s disease. A hallmark of Mack’s career has been participating in collaborative team science and mentorship of the next generation of scientists, where she has consistently mentored advanced and budding scientists within the Gainesville community and collaborated on several manuscripts from labs across the nation. In addition to her scholarly work, she regularly volunteered at the UF Neuromedicine Intensive Care Unit (Neuro ICU) while pursuing her Ph.D. to better understand the clinical perspective of neurodegeneration.
By blending her Ph.D. training and experiences in the Neuro ICU, Mack hopes to actively improve the treatment of individuals living with neurodegeneration and continue to push the frontier of medicine as a postdoctoral scholar in Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford. Now under the mentorship of Dr. K. Poston, Mack will continue to access essential training at the intersection of immunology and Parkinson’s disease, via the investigation of the gut-brain axis. As a former collegiate soccer player, Mack loves to pretend to relive her glory days during rec-league on the weekends and can also be found struggling through a Yin yoga class.
