Michael Workman, PhD

Mentors:
Clive Svendsen, PhD – Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Suzanne Devkota, PhD - Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Dermot McGovern, MD, PhD – Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Multidisciplinary expertise: 
Neurodegenerative disease, gut microbiome, innate immune response, organs-on-chips, induced pluripotent stem cells

Project description:
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder with unclear etiology and limited treatment options. While environmental factors likely contribute to disease, the specific mechanisms are largely unknown. Recent studies have highlighted the potential role of the gut microbiome in PD, finding associations between dysbiosis and disease. The aim of this project is to develop a platform to identify mechanisms of host-microbe interaction in a human-relevant system. The goal is to integrate these findings to better understand how the microbiome affects intestinal and innate immune responses in PD and to identify novel potential therapeutic targets for developing personalized treatment strategies. Two major innovations of the current studies are the use of microfluidic intestine-on-chip models that better mimic the in vivo environment, and the application of iPSC-derived cells from control and PD patients that enable the study of personalized responses to microbial challenge.