Novalia Pishesha Sciences
Differential Gene Expression in Old and Young Mice: Bridging Immune System and Muscle Regeneration
Current Bio: After graduation, Novalia completed a PhD in Biological Engineering at MIT. She is currently a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows.
Haas Scholars Project: The slower muscle regeneration observed in older people is due to the less supportive extrinsic biochemical make-up, which constitutes the microenvironment of damaged muscle, in older people as compared to younger people. Muscle regeneration involves an inflammation phase during which the immune cells partly architect the microenvironment surrounding muscle injury. Nova would like to decipher the mediator and pathways that might bridge the immune system and muscle regeneration. She will carry out a gene expression profiling approach, qRT-PCR array, and in vitro pharmacological inhibition/stimulation to investigate how the immune system affects muscle stem (satellite) cells’ regenerative capacity. The elucidation of mediator and pathways which incorporate the immune system and muscle regeneration pathways will point to novel therapies for muscle injury by biochemically engineering the microenvironment of the muscle injury sites.
