Alexandra Byrne, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department of Neurobiology
Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Interdisciplinary Graduate Program,
and NeuroNexus Neuroscience Institute
UMass Chan Medical School

Email: alexandra.byrne@umassmed.edu

Lauren O’Connor

Lauren is a PhD student in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience. Lauren joined our lab in 2019 to investigate the mechanisms that regulate motor axon degeneration.

Publications:

• O’Connor LC, Kang WK, Vo P, Spinelli JB, Alkema MJ, Byrne AB. Comamonas aquatica inhibits TIR-1/SARM1 induced axon degeneration. In Revision (2024).

• Czech VL, O'Connor LC, Philippon B, Norman E, Byrne AB. TIR-1/SARM1 inhibits axon regeneration and promotes axon degeneration. eLife 12, e80856 (2023).

• Loring HS, Czech VL, Icso JD, O'Connor LC, Parelkar SS, Byrne AB, Thompson PR. A phase transition enhances the catalytic activity of SARM1, an NAD+ glycohydrolase involved in neurodegeneration. eLife 10, e66694 (2021).

• Schmidt EJ, Funes S, McKeon JE, Morgan BR, Boopathy S, O'Connor LC, Bilsel O, Massi F, Jégou A, Bosco DA. ALS-linked PFN1 variants exhibit loss and gain of functions in the context of formin-induced actin polymerization. PNAS 118,23 (2021).

• Fagan RR, Kearney PJ, Sweeney CG, Luethi D, Schoot Uiterkamp FE, Schicker K, Alejandro BS, O'Connor LC, Sitte HH, Melikian HE. Dopamine transporter trafficking and Rit2 GTPase: Mechanism of action and in vivo impact. J Biol Chem 295,16 (2020).

Eli Min

Eli is an MD/PhD student who joined our lab in the fall of 2021. Eli is investigating the dynamics of axon regeneration.

Publications:

• Goldenthal AR, Lieberman E, Rizk MM, Ogden RT, Rubin-Falcone H, Zanderigo F, Huang YY, Min E, Yuan M, Milak M, Sullivan GM, Sublette ME, Oquendo MA, Mann JJ, Miller JM. Relationships between serotonin 1A receptor DNA methylation, self-reported history of childhood abuse and gray matter volume in major depression. J Affect Disord 367 (2024).

• Srichawla BS, Quast J, Pacut P, Sivakumar S, Garcia-Dominguez MA, Belgrad J, Panda A, Carbone S, Sanders DT, Min E, Hayes NT, Bose A, Lee V, Ghasemi M. COVID-19 in the intensive care unit: Unmasking the critical factors impacting patient survival. J Investig Med 71, 8 (2023).

• Garcia-Dominguez MA, Srichawla BS, Pacut P, Quast J, Sivakumar S, Belgrad J, Panda A, Carbone S, Sanders DT, Min E, Hayes NT, Bose A, Lee V, Kipkorir V, Ghasemi M. A single-center retrospective study of hospitalized COVID-19 patients: demographics, laboratory markers, neurological complications, ICU admission, and mortality. Ann Med Surg (Lond). 85, 7 (2023).

• Qadeer MI, Amar A, Huang YY, Min E, Galfalvy H, Hasnain S, Mann JJ. Association of serotonin system-related genes with homicidal behavior and criminal aggression in a prison population of Pakistani Origin. Sci Rep 11, 1 (2021).

• Underwood MD, Bakalian MJ, Dwork AJ, Min E, Mann JJ, Arango V. GAD mRNA in Orbital Prefrontal Cortex and Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Alcoholics Compared with Nonpsychiatric Controls: A Negative Postmortem Study. J Psychiatr Brain Sci 4, 2, e190007 (2019).

• Steinberg LJ, Rubin-Falcone H, Galfalvy HC, Kaufman J, Miller JM, Sublette ME, Cooper TB, Min E, Keilp JG, Stanley BH, Oquendo MA, Ogden RT, Mann JJ. Cortisol Stress Response and in Vivo PET Imaging of Human Brain Serotonin 1A Receptor Binding. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 22, 5 (2019).

• Parris MS, Grunebaum MF, Galfalvy HC, Andronikashvili A, Burke AK, Yin H, Min E, Huang YY, Mann JJ. Attempted suicide and oxytocin-related gene polymorphisms. J Affect Disord 1, 238 (2018).

• Yamamoto H, Ryu J, Min E, Oi N, Bai R, Zykova TA, Yu DH, Moriyama K, Bode AM, Dong Z. TRAF1 Is Critical for DMBA/Solar UVR-Induced Skin Carcinogenesis. J Investigative Dermatology 137, 6 (2017).

Brendan Philippon

Brendan is a PhD student in the Graduate Program of Neuroscience. Brendan joined our lab in the spring of 2022 to investigate the molecular mechanisms of functional axon regeneration.

Publications:

• Czech VL, O'Connor LC, Philippon B, Norman E, Byrne AB. TIR-1/SARM1 inhibits axon regeneration and promotes axon degeneration. eLife 12, e80856 (2023).

Emily Goetz

Emily is a PhD student in the Graduate Program of Neuroscience. Emily joined our lab in the spring of 2024 to investigate mechanisms of neurodegeneration.

Publications:

• Elfawal M, Goetz E, Kim Y, Chen P, Savinov S, Barasa L, Thompson PR, Aroian R. High-throughput screening of more than 30,000 compounds for anthelmintics against gastrointestinal nematode parasites. Submitted (2024).

• Banas V, Elfawal M, Rosa BA, Mahoney M, Kauffman J, Goetz E, Chen P, Aroian R, Mitreva M, Janetka J. Discovery of PIM kinase inhibitors as a novel class of anthelmintic drugs to treat intestinal nematode infections. Submitted (2024).

Noelia Genao

Noelia is a student in the Postbaccalaureate Research Program (PREP). Noelia joined our lab in the summer of 2024 to study molecular mechanisms that promote regeneration and inhibit degeneration.

Publications:

• Lemons ML, McKillop H, Genao N, Francis MM. The extracellular matrix molecule Collagen XVIII/CLE-1 affects neuronal dendritic spines. microPublication Biology (2024).

Victoria Czech, PhD

Victoria Czech, née Julian, joined our lab in the spring of 2017 to investigate the shared mechanisms that regulate axon regeneration and degeneration. Dr. Czech graduated with a PhD in the fall of 2021, and is now a patent agent at Wolf Greenfield.

Publications:

• Czech VL, O'Connor LC, Philippon B, Norman E, Byrne AB. TIR-1/SARM1 inhibits axon regeneration and promotes axon degeneration. eLife 12, e80856 (2023).

• Loring HS, Czech VL, Icso JD, O'Connor LC, Parelkar SS, Byrne AB, Thompson PR. A phase transition enhances the catalytic activity of SARM1, an NAD+ glycohydrolase involved in neurodegeneration. eLife 10, e66694 (2021).

• Caneo M, Julian VL, Byrne AB, Alkema MJ, Calixto A. Diapause induces functional axonal regeneration after necrotic insult in C. elegans. PLoS Genetics 15, 1, e1007863 (2019).

• Girouard MP, Bueno M, Julian VL, Drake S, Byrne AB, Fournier AE. The Molecular Interplay between Axon Degeneration and Regeneration. Dev Neurobiol 78, 10 (2018).