Title: Analysis of the Effects of a Plant-Based Diet on Various Neurodegenerative Pathways
Department: Chemistry
Description: Neurodegeneration, as it occurs in diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's, is a tragic neurodegenerative process that affects approximately 50 million Americans each year according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Medications for neurodegeneration are very expensive and often cause many side effects. Because of this, lifestyle and diet changes are being looked into as a way to prevent, slow, and potentially reverse the effects of these neurodegenerative diseases. This project will use biochemical modeling software (CellDesigner) and mathematical analysis (SBMLSqueezer, COPASI) to collect data on how dietary changes affect the kinetics of various neurodegenerative pathways. This data will shed light on whether a plant-based diet can have neuroprotective effects as has been suggested in recent case studies.
Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Advisor: Randolph Coleman
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