Brain injury and neurodegenerative disorders represent a growing problem in our aging society, partly because the central nervous system of adult mammals has a limited ability to regenerate. To contribute to this challenge, we collaborate with the laboratory of Lieve Moons in the Dept. of Biology at the KU Leuven and utilize two complementary animal models: zebrafish, which display robust regeneration, and mice, which, like humans, do not. We attempt to understand better what aspects of the response to injury in zebrafish enable circuit restoration, identify crucial molecular players, then translate and test these insights in mice.

The currently available project involves performing a set of ex vivo and in vivo imaging experiments to follow the response of the dendritic structure and mitochondrial function during the recovery from axonal injuries in mice retinas. During the project, you will get the opportunity to learn about viral labeling and manipulation techniques, quantitative anatomy, and the use of two-photon imaging to track neuronal function. This is an exciting opportunity to apply modern molecular and systems neuroscience techniques to address a stubbornly complex issue in biomedical science: how can we get axons to regrow after injury?

The Farrow lab is looking for creative, computationally literate individuals interested in performing in vivo experiments, then applying their quantitative skills to determine the mechanistic relationships between neural activity in identified circuits and behavior.