Research Associates
Christopher Corbo
Graduate Students
Michael Gutkin
Undergraduate Students
Luesoni Johnson
Michael Broe
Leonid Denisenko
Max Lucci
William Rivera
Alina Guseynova
 |
Office: Megerle Science Hall, Rm B3 Publications and Conferences Proceedings |
I have been with Wagner College for seven years. I received my BS in Biology (06) and my MS in Microbiology (08) from Wagner and am now working towards my PhD in Neuroscience at the City University of New York, Graduate Center & CSI/IBR Center for Developmental Neuroscience. I am also presently the Director of the Wagner College Electron Microscopy Center. Currently, I am working on developing a zebrafish model of Alzheimer disease. This model will be expressing a form of hyperphosphorylated tau. Tau is a microtubule stabalizing protein (MAP) specific to the brain. Under normal conditions, this protein functions by binding to tubulin. When hyperphosphorylated, this protein no longer binds to tubulin causing microtubule collapse and begins to aggregate into paired helical filaments (PHF) also known as the common Alzheimer lesion, tangles. This model will hopefully be able to provide valuable information concerning tau hyperphosphorylation in the various neurodegenerative disease and tauopathies.
Courses Taught: Lab experiences for Basic Medical Histology & Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology, lecture and lab for Molecular Biotechnology, Microbiology, Pathogenic Fungi Lab, Medical and Public Health Microbiology Lab, Cell Biology, and the graduate and undergraduate Electron Microscopy courses.