The Department of Neurobiology is excited to highlight the work of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the field of neuroscience.

We sat down with Kasey Brida, a dual-degree MSTP student in the Day Lab. Kasey joined UAB after earning her Bachelor of Science in Integrative Neuroscience from Binghamton University.

As part of the Day Lab, Kasey is contributing to groundbreaking research that investigates the mechanisms of addiction, with a particular focus on how Reelin— a protein that helps control how brain neurons move and organize— affects the brain’s response to cocaine.

Q: Can you explain the focus of your current research?

My current research focuses on understanding the contributions of the secreted glycoprotein Reelin to cocaine-related cellular and behavioral adaptations in a rat model. I’m really excited about this project, and I think it provides a lot of promising directions to explore mechanisms and therapeutics for cocaine use disorder, which lacks FDA-approved drugs.

Q: Why did you choose UAB?

UAB sits in a privileged position of being one of the only major medical centers in a region of the country where many health issues are endemic. This necessitates high-quality patient care which translates into an invaluable education for medical students such as myself. Research, of course, also weighed heavily in my decision. I have always had an interest in neurobiological research and the neurobiology community here does incredible work.

Q: How has your time at UAB helped you grow both as a researcher and as a future physician?

UAB puts just as much focus on producing the next generation of physicians and scientists as it does providing quality care and conducting cutting edge research. This means not only learning the skills to become a physician or scientist, but also the practicalities behind it. Research, basic or clinical, cannot be conducted without funding and usually requires collaboration to some degree. UAB provides opportunities to significantly improve grantsmanship through grant writing courses and review panels. The annual Comprehensive Neuroscience Center retreat at UAB has also been a valuable career experience. This retreat showcases the brilliant work being done across different departments at UAB and consistently recruits keynote speakers who are leaders in their respective fields. The relaxed environment at the retreat really allows trainees to connect with each other as well as faculty and invited speakers, laying foundations for future collaborations or career opportunities.

Q: What are your long-term career goals?

Long-term being the operative word since I estimate I have over a decade of training left. But ever since I became involved in neuroscience research, I’ve wanted to pursue gene therapy work. This goal has become even more important to me since my mom was diagnosed with a genetic cerebellar ataxia caused by a mutation in the RFC1 gene. I hope to utilize single-cell transcriptomic data to inform targeted design and delivery of gene therapies for such diseases.

Q: In what ways has being part of the Day Lab shaped your career?

While I’ve always been set on researching gene therapies, how I plan to do that has evolved over my Ph.D. years. I have really grown to love the community of people who do neuropsychiatric research and I think that technologies that arise from designing specific and targeted gene therapies would be highly useful in understanding basic mechanisms of neuropsychiatric diseases to identify therapeutic targets. My hope is that I can develop collaborations to do just that and continue contributing to this field.