Adriana San Miguel
Bio
My research program focuses on using engineering and systems approaches to understand fundamental biological processes in living organisms, particularly the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. We apply tools that enable the acquisition of biological data in a high-throughput, quantitative fashion. With these high-content engineering approaches, we aim to understand topics such as neuronal aging, synaptic plasticity, noise and stochasticity, genetic networks and buffering, among others. We incorporate tools that enable large-scale high-content quantitative characterization of phenotypes at various scales: from the subcellular level all the way to whole-organism behavioral outputs. We use custom-built platforms for our experimental studies, which typically incorporate microfluidics, computer vision, statistical data analysis, and integrative automation and control. In addition, we apply genetic and molecular biology tools that enable performing genome-wide systematic studies. Current active areas of research include aging of neuronal connections, genetic screens for late-onset phenotypes, quantitative behavioral assays, and the spatio-temporal role of age-associated proteins at the whole organism level.
Education
B.S., Chemical Engineering, ITESM (2005)
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Georgia Tech (2011)
Publications
- A primordial DNA store and compute engine , Nature Nanotechnology (2024)
- Amyloid β Induces Hormetic-Like Effects Through Major Stress Pathways in aC. elegansModel of Alzheimer’s Disease , (2024)
- Biomarkers for aging in Caenorhabditis elegans high throughput screening , BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETY TRANSACTIONS (2024)
- Derivation of human trophoblast stem cells from placentas at birth , (2024)
- Morphological hallmarks of dopaminergic neurodegeneration are associated with altered neuron function in Caenorhabditis elegans , NEUROTOXICOLOGY (2024)
- An unbiased, automated platform for scoring dopaminergic neurodegeneration in C. elegans , PLOS ONE (2023)
- An unbiased, automated platform for scoring dopaminergic neurodegeneration in C. elegans , Dryad (2023)
- An unbiased, automated platform for scoring dopaminergic neurodegeneration inC. elegans , (2023)
- Data for: Endogenous DAF-16 spatiotemporal activity quantitatively predicts lifespan extension induced by dietary restriction , Dryad (2023)
- Endogenous DAF-16 spatiotemporal activity quantitatively predicts lifespan extension induced by dietary restriction , COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY (2023)