Brain Resilience PostDoc Alumni

Takeshi Uenaka is a neurologist and neuroscientist studying neurodegenerative diseases by using human stem cell-derived neuron, astrocyte, and microglia. Takeshi received his medical degree from Kobe University, Japan, in 2007 and worked for 10 years as a neurologist. He completed his Ph.D. in neuroscience at Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan, in 2019. As a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Marius Wernig, he is working to model disease environment in vitro having the above 3 cell types and to assess the interaction between microglia and intraneuronal protein aggregation.

Ravi Nath is investigating mechanisms that promote resilience to neurodegenerative diseases. As a postdoctoral scholar in Anne Brunet’s lab, Ravi is pioneering an emerging short-lived vertebrate model system—the African turquoise killifish—to investigate the role of sleep in aging and neurodegenerative diseases. Ravi built a longitudinal tracking system to explore how sleep changes across lifespan and in the context of neurodegenerative disease.

My expertise is in the areas of regeneration, evolution, the nervous system and cell biology. I use a marine colonial tunicate, Botryllus schlosseri, characterized by having robust regenerative capabilities and an assayable and frequent (weekly) CNS (Central nervous system) tissue regeneration and loss throughout adult life. I believe that comparative studies on a simple chordate can help us elucidate the principal mechanisms that are the foundation of regeneration and aging.