Alexa Barbosa
Biography
Fun Fact: I LOVE country music!
Hello! My name is Alexa Barbosa and I was born and raised in New Jersey. My intended concentration is Biochemistry, and I hope to attend Medical School after graduating from Brown! I love all things about science and discovery, I am a runner, and I love animals! I am super excited to be a part of PSP because I am looking forward to taking part in research that provides me with experiences and prepares me for a future of gaining knowledge and discovery. I am really passionate about pursuing medicine because my dream is to be a resource to others. In these next four years at Brown, I hope to become a multifaceted student with experiences in all types of learning and interactions with my peers!
Research
This summer I stayed in Providence doing work in aging research as an undergraduate member of the Valdez Lab. I worked closely with a PhD student on her project studying ApoE expression in the spinal cord under normal and stressful conditions, such as aging. The goals of the project during the summer months was to perform experiments on ApoE knock-in mice in order to collect data that demonstrates how motor neurons in the spinal cord utilize the expression of ApoE during stressful conditions. Since we know that an important stress response measure is the interaction that motor neurons and microglia have in this region of the nervous system, we are closely examining the position and state of surrounding microglia in both uninjured and injured mouse models at specific time points following injury. One thing I have learned from being a part of this work this summer and having the opportunity to be mentored by a PhD student is that the process of collecting and analyzing data and performing several experiments is very tedious and requires patience and perseverance to succeed in your work.