I am a systems neuroscientist with a background in biophysics. The goal of my research is to understand how brain circuits mediate decision making and associative learning for complex sensory input. We study how sensory processing areas of the olfactory system and hippocampus handle information relevant to olfactory decision-making and learning (Losacco et al., 2020; Ma et al., 2020; Ma et al., 2024). In addition, in a collaboration with Maria Nagel and Andrés Villegas we study whether the loss of smell plays a causative role in Alzheimer’s disease testing whether alphaherpes virus infection of the olfactory system accelerates Alzheimer’s (Bubak et al., 2023; Niemeyer Christy et al., 2024a; Niemeyer Christy et al., 2024b). To tackle these questions we use an interdisciplinary approach employing awake behaving high density electrical recording, advanced neurophotonics, closed loop optogenetics, spatial transcriptomics and proteomics and computational neuroscience. My laboratory is involved in developing novel devices to study circuit function in robust collaborations with physicists and engineers. With Emily Gibson we have developed miniature fiber coupled microscopes to image neuronal activity and modify neural activity by optogenetic holographic photostimulation in freely moving mice (Futia et al., 2024; Ozbay et al., 2018).
I lead an exciting research environment where students and postdocs are exposed to state of the art approaches to neuroscience research. I have an open door policy in a laboratory where trainees develop independent projects, enjoy their research, obtain independent funding and have synergistic interactions with a diverse multidisciplinary research group. The trainee-initiated project often results in new venues of research that they take to their own laboratory. Finally, I believe that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are key in science inquiry and I have contributed to increased DEI by leading different funded programs in our University and in the Association for Chemoreception Sciences. Bubak, A.N., Merle, L., Niemeyer, C.S., Baxter, B.D., Gentile Polese, A., Ramakrishnan, V., Gomez, J., Madrigal, L., Villegas-Lanau, A., Lopera, F., Macklin, W., Frietze, S., Nagel, M.A., Restrepo, D., 2023. Signatures for viral infection and inflammation in the proximal olfactory system in familial Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiology of Aging 123, 75-82. Futia, G.L., Zohrabi, M., McCullough, C., Teel, A., Simoes de Souza, F., Oroke, R., Miscles, E.J., Ozbay, B.N., Kilborn, K., Bright, V.M., Restrepo, D., Gopinath, J.T., Gibson, E.A., 2024. Opto2P-FCM: A MEMS based miniature two-photon microscope with two-photon patterned optogenetic stimulation. bioRxiv, 2024.2010.2021.619528. Losacco, J., Ramirez-Gordillo, D., Gilmer, J., Restrepo, D., 2020. Learning improves decoding of odor identity with phase-referenced oscillations in the olfactory bulb. Elife 9, e52583. Ma, M., Futia, G.L., de Souza, F.M.S., Ozbay, B.N., Llano, I., Gibson, E.A., Restrepo, D., 2020. Molecular layer interneurons in the cerebellum encode for valence in associative learning. Nature Communications 11(1), 4217. Ma, M., Simoes de Souza, F.M., Futia, G.L., S.R., A., Riguero, J., Tollin, D., Gentile-Polese, A., Platt, J.P., Steinke, K., Hiratani, N., Gibson, E.A., Restrepo, D., 2024. Sequential activity of CA1 hippocampal cells constitutes a temporal memory map for associative learning in mice. Current Biol. 34, 841-854.e844. Niemeyer Christy, S., Frietze, S., Coughlan, C., Lewis Serena, W.R., Bustos Lopez, S., Saviola Anthony, J., Hansen Kirk, C., Medina Eva, M., Hassell James, E., Kogut, S., Traina-Dorge, V., Nagel Maria, A., Bruce Kimberley, D., Restrepo, D., Mahalingam, R., Bubak Andrew, N., 2024a. Suppression of the host antiviral response by non-infectious varicella zoster virus extracellular vesicles. Journal of Virology 98(8), e00848-00824. Niemeyer Christy, S., Merle, L., Bubak Andrew, N., Baxter, B.D., Gentile Polese, A., Colon-Reyes, K., Vang, S., Hassell James, E., Bruce Kimberley, D., Nagel Maria, A., Restrepo, D., 2024b. Olfactory and trigeminal routes of HSV-1 CNS infection with regional microglial heterogeneity. Journal of Virology 0(0), e00968-00924. Ozbay, B.N., Futia, G.L., Ma, M., Bright, V.M., Gopinath, J.T., Hughes, E.G., Restrepo, D., Gibson, E.A., 2018. Three dimensional two-photon brain imaging in freely moving mice using a miniature fiber coupled microscope with active axial-scanning. Sci Rep 8(1), 8108. |