ASIP Summer Research Opportunity Program in Pathology (SROPP)

Robert Bowser, PhD

Contact Information

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine BST S-420
200 Lothrop Street Pittsburgh, PA 15261
412-383-7819
Bowserrp@upmc.edu

Member of the Following FASEB Societies:

American Society for Investigative Pathology

Program Description

The research focus of the Bowser laboratory is to discover the mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. A summer student will participate in a research project on discovering and validating protein biomarkers for ALS. For these studies, we use cerebrospinal fluid and blood from ALS patients and control subjects to discover biomarkers using mass spectrometry. Potential biomarkers will be validated using other proteomic approaches. We also participate in multiple clinical trials for ALS and students will be able to see first hand how basic science is translated to the clinic. Additional methodologies used in the lab are culturing of primary motor neurons used to examine pathways of motor neuron cell death, immunohistochemistry, and confocal microscopy.