Katelyn Joyal

My interest in dysfunctional neuroscience began with reading Phantoms in the Brain by V.S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee for my high school neuroscience class. I pursued this interest at Mount Holyoke College where I earned a B.A. in neuroscience and behavior with honors and served as one of the first co-chairs of the nascent Neuroscience Student Forum. Prior to pursuing my Ph.D., I sought to deepen my technical research skills by working as a research technician at McLean Hospital in the labs of Dr. Ned Buttner and Drs. Bruce Cohen and Donna McPhie. In Dr. Buttner’s lab, I utilized a forward genetic screen and thrashing assay to identify mutations that produced ALS-like phenotypes in C. elegans. With Dr. Cohen and Dr. McPhie, I assisted in the creation and maintenance of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines as we probed potential deficits in the myelinating capabilities of oligodendrocytes from patients with schizophrenia. I went on to earn my Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Iowa, where I discovered my interest in epilepsy research. In the lab of Dr. Gordon Buchanan, I investigated the effect of serotonin and brainstem mechanisms on postictal breathing, arousal, and mortality. As a postdoc in the Maguire lab, I am continuing my study of brainstem circuits that facilitate seizure-induced death through autonomic perturbations. I hope that my work will someday provide clinicians with the tools to better identify patients at risk for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) and inform therapeutic strategies to mitigate the risk of seizure-induced death.