Thompson-Peer Lab
Katherine Thompson-Peer, Ph.D
About
Assistant Professor
University of California, Irvine
School of Biological Sciences
ktpeer[at]uci[dot]edu
The Thompson-Peer Lab studies in vivo neuron regeneration in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. At the most fundamental level, a neuron receives information along dendrites, and sends information down an axon to synaptic contacts. Dendrites can be injured by traumatic brain injury, stroke, and many forms of neurodegeneration, yet while the factors that control axon regeneration after injury have been extensively studied, we know almost nothing about dendrite regeneration. Our long term research goal is to understand the cellular mechanisms of dendrite regeneration after injury.
Our previous work found that the sensory neurons in the peripheral nervous system exhibit robust regeneration of dendrites after injury and used this system to explore central features of dendrite regeneration in developing animals, young adults, and aging adults. We have observed that after injury, neurons regrow dendrites that recreate some features of uninjured dendrites, but are unable to reconstruct an entire arbor that perfectly mimics an uninjured neuron.
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Current and future projects will deepen our knowledge about dendrite regeneration to create a new framework for understanding how neurons recover from injury in both young and aging animals.
Postdocs: Interested postdocs should email Katie directly. Please include your CV.
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Grad students: Current graduate students should contact Katie to set up a rotation. Future graduate students should apply to one of the UC Irvine graduate programs (we are affiliated with Cellular and Molecular Biosciences and the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program).
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Undergraduates: We are constantly looking for motivated individuals to join our team! Undergraduates interested in research should email ktpeer [at] uci [dot] edu , and should consider enrolling in BIO199.
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Work-study employees: UCI undergraduates looking for a work-study job should visit our handshake listing for available opportunities (postings updated frequently).
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Technicians: Potential technicians should visit handshake listings posted by the Thompson-Peer Lab.
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Members of communities underrepresented in science are especially encouraged to apply.