3 minute read
Aaron Huynh
Aaron Huynh is a second-year student in the Neuroscience Graduate Program at the School of Medicine and Dentistry. He received his undergraduate degree in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from the University of Rochester. He was a student in the biomedical research training program Post-baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) at the Medical Center. Huynh currently works in the lab of neurologist Ania Busza, MD, PhD, where his research focuses on ways to assess arm movement recovery in stroke patients over time.
“We’re particularly interested in the acute setting,” said Huynh. “We have an ongoing study that tracks the progress of stroke patients admitted to Strong [Memorial Hospital]. We use wireless sensors to collect electrical activity of muscles involved in simple movements from when they are admitted through six months post-stroke. We are using clinical measures and novel clinical and translational methods to identify ways to evaluate and hopefully improve motor recovery, specifically in the upper extremities. If we can find ways to develop individualized treatment, we hope that can improve people’s quality of life and overall functioning.”
Having the opportunity to work in several different labs during his time in Rochester, Huynh realized that translational research was the area of neuroscience that he was most interested in pursuing. While he was a PREP student, his cousin was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, so being able to work under the mentorship of the Joan and Gary Marrow Endowed Distinguished Professor of Supportive Care in Cancer Michelle Janelsins, PhD, MPH, and AnnaLynn Williams, PhD, assistant professor of Surgery, Cancer Center, and Public Health Sciences, was the right place for Huynh. “I was fortunate to have Michelle’s and AnnaLynn’s mentorship. They gave me the support I needed to keep pushing myself to figure things out on my own,” said Huynh, who would go on to first author his first research paper published in Brain, Behavior, & Immunity that found a neurologic biomarker that increased in patients with cancer and preliminarily related to changes in cognitive function.
Outside the lab, Huynh has become one of the newest Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience Diversity Commission members. “As a first-generation student of immigrants, the expectation for my parents was never to really go to college. I never thought I would be an undergraduate, let alone a graduate student. But I think I’m here because of the mentorship and guidance I had from high school and beyond. I think the programs the Neuroscience Diversity Commission offers allow me now to be a mentor.”
