2016 and 2015 Undergraduate Summer Research Program Participant

Home Department: Biology
Supported by: Bio-X
Mentor: Yanmin Yang, Neurology

Photo of USRP student Nico Herrera in the lab, putting samples on a microcsope.Using the hypothesis that neurodegeneration in Huntington’s disease (HD) is exacerbated by a transport failure in neurons, Nicolas’s project involves designing and implementing microfluidic chambers to organize cell cultures and study intracellular trafficking. Through these chambers, drugs and viruses that support neurons can be tested for future HD therapies.

Poster presented at the Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Symposium on August 24, 2016:

Steps Toward Huntington’s Disease Therapeutics: ProBDNF Treatment and the Microfluidic Co-Culture System

Nicolas Herrera1, Wei Wang1, Yanmin Yang1
[Department of Neurology & Neurological Sciences1, Stanford University]


Home Department: Biology
Supported by: Bio-X
Mentor: Yanmin Yang, Neurology

Nicolas is studying neuronal transport in Huntington’s disease (HD). The hypothesis is that neurodegeneration in HD is exacerbated or initiated by a transport failure in neurons. He is designing and implementing “microfluidic chambers” to organize cell cultures, which allows for testing of intracellular trafficking.

Poster presented at the Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Symposium on August 26, 2015:

Restoring BDNF Delivery on the Cortical-Striatal Axis: A Therapeutic Strategy for Huntington’s Disease

Nicolas Herrera1, Michael T. Maloney1, Yanmin Yang1
[Department of Neurology & Neurological Sciences1, Stanford University]