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Nicole Kathleen Corso

Research Manager, Golub Capital Social Impact Lab, GSB Research Hub

BioNicole (she/her) received her BA in Psychology from the University of Michigan in 2016 and a MS in Health Psychology in 2018. As a masters student, she worked in the Psychiatric Affective Neuroimaging Laboratory with Israel Liberzon, MD and in the Sleep and Chronophysiology Laboratory with J. Todd Arnedt, PhD in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan. Nicole joined the Stanford Memory Lab in the Departments of Psychology and Neurology at Stanford University led by Anthony Wagner, PhD and the Mormino Lab led by Elizabeth Mormino, PhD in June 2018 to explore the memory mechanisms behind neurodegenerative disease. Nicole joined the Day Lab led by John W. Day, MD, PhD in the Department of Neurology at Stanford University in 2022 as a Data and Imaging Research Scientist to continue exploring neurological disease with the hopes of obtaining a PhD in the future.

In the Spring of 2024, Nicole transitioned into a Research Development Manager role, combining her love and passion for science and writing by assisting the Division of Hospital Medicine's faculty in developing innovative research programs and submitting competitive funding awards. Nicole was available to faculty for 1:1 grantsmanship advice and identifying funding opportunities alongside serving as their main resource for pre- and post-award support. She had helped secure over two-hundred thousand dollars in research funding within one year.

Nicole currently serves as the Research Manager of the Golub Capital Social Impact Lab in the Graduate School of Business led by Dr. Susan Athey.

Contact Info
ncorso@stanford.edu

Ximena Corso Díaz

Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology

Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe are interested in unraveling the roles of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and regulatory RNAs in retinal development and homeostasis.

RNA-binding proteins mediate functional integration of transcriptional and post-transcriptional machineries influencing various aspects of gene expression and RNA metabolism. Several RBPs have cell-type enriched expression patterns in the retina or cause blinding diseases, however their role in retinal development and function is poorly understood. We have identified several RBPs that interact with the photoreceptor-specific transcription factor NRL and are likely involved in development and homeostasis of this retinal cell-type. We are pursuing the following lines of research:

1) RBPs in retinal development and degeneration. We will study the role of RBPs in regulating retinal development and maintaining homeostasis. We will focus on RBPs enriched in the retina, their interactions with retinal transcription factors like NRL, and their relevance to retinal diseases.

2) RBPs in R-loop regulation in the retina. R-loops are triple-stranded structures created when RNA anneals to one of the strands of the DNA duplex. R-loops have many regulatory roles during gene expression and their dysregulation can be detrimental to genome integrity. We observed that R-loops are dynamic during retinal development and identified key R-loop-associated RBPs that are enriched in rod photoreceptors and that interact with the transcription factor NRL. We will study the role of R-loops and their regulatory RBPs in retinal development and homeostasis.

3) Chromatin-associated regulatory RNAs through the retina lifespan. Chromatin-associated RNAs contribute to the dynamic regulation of gene expression, chromatin structure, and genome organization, playing essential roles in various biological processes, including development, differentiation, and disease. We will study how regulatory RNAs, together with their cognate RBPs, influence expression programs and chromatin dynamics through the retina lifespan.