UMCUniversity of Massachusetts Chan Medical School · Neuroscience
Gut-Brain Health Lab
Alexandra Byrne · Worcester, Massachusetts
Research Focus
Dr. Alexandra Byrne's lab at the University of Massachusetts Medical School focuses on understanding how gut bacteria influence brain health and could protect against diseases like Alzheimer's. Using a simple worm model, they investigate how specific bacteria and their products can prevent nerve cell degeneration. This research aims to link the microbiome with neuroprotection, potentially leading to new strategies for treating neurodegenerative diseases.
Alzheimer's diseasemicrobiomeC. elegansneurodegenerationneural integritybacteriavitamin B12gut-brain axisneuroprotection
Research Aims
3AIM 01Investigate how different bacteria affect neuronal function.
AIM 02Identify bacterial metabolites that protect against neurodegeneration.
AIM 03Determine the mechanisms by which microbiota influence nerve cell health.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturemicrobiome analysisgenetic manipulationanimal models (C. elegans)molecular assaysbehavioral assaysWestern blottingPCRdata analysismetabolomics
Output against the department
Publications27bottom 5% of dept.639th of 671
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations750bottom 3% of dept.648th of 671
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.