Congratulations to Sabrina Hafeez, Martin Lab MD/PhD Student, on an F30 Award from the NIH
We're thrilled to share that Sabrina Hafeez, an MD/PhD student in Ben Martin's lab, was recently awarded an F30 from the NIH. This fellowship will support her predoctoral training. Her grant is titled "Impact of NMDA Receptors on Neural Crest Development." We spoke to Sabrina about her research that inspried the fellowship application.
What is your research focused on?
The Martin lab uses zebrafish as a model to study various processes that are fundamental to vertebrate development, from the cellular programs that regulate stem cells to tissue morphogenesis. My research takes advantage of the tools available to manipulate zebrafish embryos to study the role of NMDA receptors on the development of a transient population of cells known as the neural crest.
What question are you investigating?
NMDA receptors are ion channels that are well characterized for their role in mediating communication between neurons in the brain and spinal cord. I am interested in how NMDA receptors modulate neural crest development, more specifically how NMDA receptors impact the cell cycle of neural crest cells.
What are some of the possible explanations?
One possible explanation is that Ca2+, an ion that is permeable to NMDA receptors, interacts with components of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, which is crucial for regulating multiple components of neural crest development.
What broader significance could this work have?
Numerous variants in NMDA receptors have been identified in humans and are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. These individuals often face challenges that extend beyond the central nervous system, in tissues that are derived from the neural crest; however, the underlying pathogenies is not well understood. Studying the role of NMDA receptors in neural crest cells can allow us to unravel regulatory mechanisms that can pave the way for alternative treatment programs for these individuals that currently focus on the central nervous system.
Congrats again, Sabrina!