Science
I have been a lab scientist for 13 years—ever since I first joined a lab at Vanderbilt University during the summer after my sophomore year of high school. In that time, I have initiated, executed, and managed several research projects from project design and funding to project execution and dissemination. In my current work, I study how the non-neuronal cells of the brain contribute to a genetic model of autism.
Education
Columbia University
MA 2015, MPhil 2016, PhD 2020
Neurobiology & Behavior
National Institutes of Health Vision Sciences Training Grant Recipient (2016 - 2019)
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Honorable Mention (2015, 2016)
University of Tennessee
B.A. 2014, summa cum laude
College Scholars Program - Integrative Neuroscience
Chancellor’s Citation for Extraordinary Campus Leadership & Service (2014)
Chancellor’s Citation for Extraordinary Academic Achievement (2014)
Chancellor’s Citation for Extraordinary Professional Promise (2014)
Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship (2013)
University of Tennessee College Scholars Program (2012 - 2014)
University of Tennessee Haslam Scholars Program (2010 - 2014)
University of Tennessee Neyland Scholarship (2010 - 2014)
Engagement & Service
BrainFood
Co-Creator, Project Lead, Project Scientist (2020 - present)
Collaborated with Harlem chef JJ Johnson and community partners Harlem Grown, Mandala Cafe, and the Riverside Church to create an accessible community outreach event focused on neuroscience and food. Read more about BrainFood here.
Columbia Researchers Against COVID-19
Web Database Editor (2020)
Worked with the Columbia University Office of the Executive VP for Research, Columbia IT, and other volunteers to build, manage, and temporarily maintain the official Columbia University website database of COVID-19-related projects, with the goal of providing a centralized hub of COVID-19 related work, facilitating collaboration, connecting projects with qualified volunteers, and preventing effort duplication using MySQL-driven DBVisualizer software
Columbia University Neuroscience Outreach
Volunteer Science Educator (2014 - present)
Double Discovery Center Science Discovery Program
Teacher (2015, 2016)
Co-taught an introductory neuroscience course to low-income, first-generation, public high school students in NYC with Columbia University’s Double Discovery Center
Publications
Lee MA, Cheadle L, Ulgerheit M, Greenberg M, Shirasu-Hiza MM, Mason CA. Glia and synapse engulfment in a mouse model of Fragile X Syndrome. 2021. in preparation
Lee MA*, Sitko AA*, Khalid S, Shirasu-Hiza MM, Mason CA. Spatiotemporal distribution of glia in and around the developing mouse optic tract. J Comp Neurol. 2019; 527(3): 508-521. *equal contribution
Kremer EA, Guar N, Lee MA, Engmann O, Bohacek J, Mansuy IM. (2018) Interplay between TETs and microRNAs in the adult brain for memory formation. Sci Rep. 8(1):1678.
Dulka BN, Ford EC, Lee MA, Donnell NJ, Goode TD, Cooper MA. (2016) Mature BDNF in the basolateral amygdala is necessary for defeat-induced social avoidance. Learning & Memory. 23(4): 156-60.
Jing-Qiong K, Shen W, Lee M, Gallagher, M, and Macdonald, R (2010) Slow degradation and in vitro aggregation of mutant GABRG2 (Q351X) subunits associated with epilepsy. Journal of Neuroscience. 30(41): 13895-13905.