Ms Sana Gadiwalla

I am researching how neurons set and maintain their intrinsic excitability, and how gene expression programs shape this process. Stable brain function depends on neurons firing within a functional range, while remaining able to adapt to new input, yet how specific neuronal populations achieve this is poorly understood. My PhD research, carried out at both here in Cambridge and at the University of Iceland, explored this question in the olfactory bulb(OB). I utilized the specific expression of the microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) in the OB to examine its role on excitability in the the projection neurons of the OB. To do this I am combining anatomical methods (confocal imaging and RNA in-situ hybridization) with functional methods (patch clamp electrophysiology and RNA sequencing) .