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CLAUDIA FALLINI Assistant Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology Ryan Research Assistant Professor of Neuroscience

A cell imager is a type of microscope that can image cells over long periods of time (days, weeks, even months).

electrical nerve stimulation, as an accessible and non-invasive treatment to reduce muscle stiffness in those with cerebral palsy. In another five year grant, Quinlan is researching the role of serotonin on those with cerebral palsy in collaboration with Marin Manuel, assistant professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences and Ryan research assistant professor of neuroscience. Partnering with kinesiology and fellow Ryan institute faculty Christie Ward Ritacco and Susan D’Andrea, Quinlan is studying how gait can act as a potential biomarker for those with ALS. Furthermore, Quinlan is collaborating with researchers at Johns Hopkins University to study a genetic mutation present in certain forms of spinal muscular atrophy that contributes to a leaky blood-brain barrier. This work was recently published in Science Translational Medicine . Katharina Quinlan is collaborating with researchers at Johns Hopkins University to study a genetic mutation present in certain forms of spinal muscular atrophy that contributes to a leaky blood-brain barrier.

KATHARINA QUINLAN Associate Professor of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Ryan Research Associate Professor of Neuroscience

Another of the Institute’s leading scholars is Claudia Fallini, an assistant professor of cell and molecular biology and Ryan research assistant professor of neuroscience. Her recent work focuses on a group of proteins that is rarely studied, but which play an important role in cell function and survival: the linker of nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton (LINC) complex. “I’m a person who likes to see things,” says Fallini. “Cell biology is very visual. You can see the inner workings of a cell and how all its components—proteins, organelles, DNA—interact to allow cells to function in an organized way.” Fallini’s lab has observed that the LINC complex becomes compromised in patients with ALS. This disrupts the cell’s critical ability to adapt to its surroundings. She asks, “If you can define how disruptions of this mechanism might lead to degeneration, can we pinpoint specific places where we could intervene and prolong the survival of the neuron?” Her observations raise questions, not only about how LINC complex dysfunction contributes to disease, but also if it might serve as a therapeutic target. Fallini also

“I was drawn to the Ryan Institute because of the therapeutic focus. For ALS, I want to try to help people who have no cure, no therapeutics, nothing to improve quality of life or their survival.” - Claudia Fallini

at Butler Hospital Memory and Aging Program in Providence to study possible screenings for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease in a regular eye exam. This could provide a much-needed way to diagnose and treat the disease before symptoms appear. Demonstrating the Ryan Institute’s ability for interdisciplinary investigation, Katharina Quinlan, associate professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences and Ryan research associate professor of neuroscience, studies ALS, spinal muscular atrophy (another degenerative condition that affects one’s ability to move) and the impacts of injury to the nervous system in conditions like cerebral palsy. Her research is supported by a combined $8.5 million in funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH). In one five-year, $2.8 million grant, Quinlan investigates primary afferent depolarization (PAD) as a contributor to altered movement in cerebral palsy. PAD is a mechanism that adapts reflex response—in other words, the knee-jerk response tested in a typical doctor’s visit to different states of alertness. In cerebral palsy, where a spastic or exaggerated reflex response is present, maladaptive PAD may be at fault. She also studies the use of a potential over-the-counter device, transcutaneous

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