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Bianca Brenha
PhD Student
Bianca Brenha graduated with a BS in Biological Sciences from the University of Campinas (Unicamp) in Brazil. During her undergraduate studies, she was involved in biotechnology,  environmental microbiology, and COVID-19 related research at Unicamp and the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM). She was also awarded two research scholarships abroad in Brazil at Vrije University in Amsterdam and at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She has shifted focus towards understanding neurological diseases, such as...Bianca has been involved in research projects usand mouse models, and recently started to use induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and brain organoids. She joined the Department of Genetics and Genomes Sciences at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) as a Research Assistant in February 2021 at the Miranda Lab. She just got admitted to the Biomedical Sciences Training Program (BSTP) at CWRU and will be starting her studies in Fall 2021. Her PhD project will focus on investigating molecular pathology behind the skeletal muscle and motor neuronal degeneration in spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA).  
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Curran Landry
PhD Student
Curran Landry is a graduate student in the Miranda lab studying the underlying mechanisms of VAPB and its role in the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Type VIII. He is using motor neurons differentiated from patient samples to examine the effect of the P56S mutation on the function of VAPB and how it leads to neurodegeneration. Before joining the Miranda lab he was an ORISE fellow at the Food and Drug Administration building (quantitative)-structure activity relationship ((Q)-SAR) models for use in drug regulation. He is originally from Colorado and in his free time he enjoys playing most types of games (board, video, card etc.), reading, and spending time with friends.
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Daniel Chen
Research Assistant
Daniel is currently an undergraduate student at Case Western Reserve University and is pursuing a major in Chemical Biology and a minor in Mathematics. He joined the Miranda Lab as an Undergraduate Research Assistant in 2019 and hopes to continue research in the future as a MD/PhD candidate. He is in the process of developing 2D neuromuscular junctions and 3D motor units to better model and understand the pathophysiology of ALS-8 and other neurodegenerative diseases. In his free time, Daniel likes to play basketball, watch movies, and enjoy life as it come
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Curran Landry
PhD Student
Bianca Brenha graduated with a BS in Biological Sciences from the University of Campinas (Unicamp) in Brazil. During her undergraduate studies, she was involved in biotechnology,  environmental microbiology, and COVID-19 related research at Unicamp and the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM). She was also awarded two research scholarships abroad in Brazil at Vrije University in Amsterdam and at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She has shifted focus towards understanding neurological diseases, such as...Bianca has been involved in research projects usand mouse models, and recently started to use induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and brain organoids. She joined the Department of Genetics and Genomes Sciences at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) as a Research Assistant in February 2021 at the Miranda Lab. She just got admitted to the Biomedical Sciences Training Program (BSTP) at CWRU and will be starting her studies in Fall 2021. Her PhD project will focus on investigating molecular pathology behind the skeletal muscle and motor neuronal degeneration in spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA).  
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James Costanzo
Research Assistant
James is a Research Assistant in the Miranda Lab at Case Western Reserve University and he hopes to pursue a PhD in the future, where he can further study neurodegenerative and/or neurodevelopmental diseases. He received a B.S. in Biology and minors in Psychology and Neuroscience from Ramapo College of New Jersey in 2019. During his undergraduate research in Dr. Joost Monen's Lab, he studied the characterization of unknown genes in development, by observing the phenotype of transgenic mutants to determine the gene’s biological process. In the Miranda Lab, James helps maintain the lab in addition to scientific duties. Previously, James studied the molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, such as the causal relationship of P56S mutation in ALS-8. Currently, he is studying Early Infantile Eplipetic Encephalopathy Type 76, which is a neurodevelopmental disease characterized by early onset seizures and autistic like features. He is using cortical organoids derived from induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to model the disease and understand EIEE-76’s underlying pathological mechanisms. In his free time he tutors SAT and school subjects, is a current and lifelong student, loves anime, reads philosophy books, is a business owner, goes to the gym, rides his bike everywhere and cooks delicious meals on his cooking channel. 
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Curran Landry
PhD Student
Bianca Brenha graduated with a BS in Biological Sciences from the University of Campinas (Unicamp) in Brazil. During her undergraduate studies, she was involved in biotechnology,  environmental microbiology, and COVID-19 related research at Unicamp and the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM). She was also awarded two research scholarships abroad in Brazil at Vrije University in Amsterdam and at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She has shifted focus towards understanding neurological diseases, such as...Bianca has been involved in research projects usand mouse models, and recently started to use induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and brain organoids. She joined the Department of Genetics and Genomes Sciences at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) as a Research Assistant in February 2021 at the Miranda Lab. She just got admitted to the Biomedical Sciences Training Program (BSTP) at CWRU and will be starting her studies in Fall 2021. Her PhD project will focus on investigating molecular pathology behind the skeletal muscle and motor neuronal degeneration in spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA).  
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Elizabeth Bryson
PREP Student
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Curran Landry
PhD Student
Bianca Brenha graduated with a BS in Biological Sciences from the University of Campinas (Unicamp) in Brazil. During her undergraduate studies, she was involved in biotechnology,  environmental microbiology, and COVID-19 related research at Unicamp and the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM). She was also awarded two research scholarships abroad in Brazil at Vrije University in Amsterdam and at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She has shifted focus towards understanding neurological diseases, such as...Bianca has been involved in research projects usand mouse models, and recently started to use induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and brain organoids. She joined the Department of Genetics and Genomes Sciences at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) as a Research Assistant in February 2021 at the Miranda Lab. She just got admitted to the Biomedical Sciences Training Program (BSTP) at CWRU and will be starting her studies in Fall 2021. Her PhD project will focus on investigating molecular pathology behind the skeletal muscle and motor neuronal degeneration in spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA).  
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Isabelle Z. Silva
Visiting Scholar
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Curran Landry
PhD Student
Bianca Brenha graduated with a BS in Biological Sciences from the University of Campinas (Unicamp) in Brazil. During her undergraduate studies, she was involved in biotechnology,  environmental microbiology, and COVID-19 related research at Unicamp and the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM). She was also awarded two research scholarships abroad in Brazil at Vrije University in Amsterdam and at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She has shifted focus towards understanding neurological diseases, such as...Bianca has been involved in research projects usand mouse models, and recently started to use induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and brain organoids. She joined the Department of Genetics and Genomes Sciences at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) as a Research Assistant in February 2021 at the Miranda Lab. She just got admitted to the Biomedical Sciences Training Program (BSTP) at CWRU and will be starting her studies in Fall 2021. Her PhD project will focus on investigating molecular pathology behind the skeletal muscle and motor neuronal degeneration in spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA).  

MirandaLab

MirandaLab

MirandaLab

Our lab focus on the investigations of cell autonomous and non-cell autonomous molecular events involved in spinal bulbar muscular atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
A substantial number of drugs found to alleviate symptoms of motor neuron diseases (MNDs) in animal models have failed in clinical trials. While the reasons for this are not clear, modeling with disease cell types from affected patients may yield novel targets and pathways, and setting the stage for the discovery of drugs targeting MNDs.
New advents in stem cell research currently include the possibility of exploring co-cultures of multiple cell types to study their interactions. Therefore, our lab uses iPSCs developed for SBMA and ALS8 to dissect the contributions of motor neurons, astrocytes and skeletal muscles for motor neuron diseases.
ABOUT THE PI
Helen Miranda
BS Biomedicine-UEL(BR)
MS Immunopathology-UEL(BR)
PhD Cell and Molecular Biology-USP(BR)
Postdoctoral Research-UCSD (USA)
As a graduate student, Helen was one of 10 Brazilians selected for the "Embryonic Stem (ES) Cells as a Model System for Embryonic Development" course. During this experience, she became fascinated by the use of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for modeling human diseases. For that reason, Helen chose to come to the USA as a joint postdoctoral fellow in the La Spada lab and in the Muotri lab at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). During her postdoctoral training, Helen developed stem cell models for two different motor neuron disorders, spinal bulbar muscular atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. She joined the Department of Genetics and Genomes Sciences at Case Western Reserve University as an Assistant Professor in May 2018 to continue her studies on the pathophysiology of motor neuron diseases.
THE TEAM
Curran
Curran Landry
PhD Student
Caroline Rodrigues
Postdoctoral Researcher
Joao Carrara
Research Assistant
Rodolfo Sanches Ferreira
Research Assistant
Read some of our lab's featured publications.  
Or click here to view all on Pubmed.
/01
2024
Landry C, Costanzo J, Mitne-Neto M, Zatz M, Schaffer A, Hatzoglou M, Muotri A, Miranda HC. VAPB P56S Variant Sensitizes ALS Patient-Derived Motor Neurons to the Integrated Stress Response.
BioRxiv
/02
2024
Chen D, Phillipidou P, Brenha BF, Schaffer AE, Miranda HC. Scalable, optically-responsive human neuromuscular junction model reveals convergent mechanisms of synaptic dysfunction in familial ALS.
eLife, Apr 2024.
/03
2023
Wattanapanitch M, Chailangkarn T, Miranda HC, Muotri AR. Editorial: Advances in iPSC technology for disease modeling and therapeutic applications.
Front Cell Dev Biol. 2023;11:1261279
/04
2023
Matthews I, Birnbaum A, Gromova A, Coutinho K, McGraw M, Patterson D, Banks MT, Nobles A, Nguyen N, Miranda HC, La Spada AR, Cortes CJ. Skeletal Muscle Proteostasis Promotes Central Nervous System Rejuvenation and Reduces Neuroinflammation during Aging and Neurodegenerative Disease
Cell Report, 2023 Nov 28;42(11)113436
/05
2023
Chen Y, Bury LA, Chen F, Aldinger KA, Miranda HC, Wynshaw-Boris A. Generation of advanced cerebellar organoids for neurogenesis and neuronal network development.
Hum Mol Genet. 2023 Sep 5;32(18):2832-2841
/06
2022
Watson C, Liu C, Ansari A, Miranda HC, Somoza RA, Senyo SE. Multiplexed microfluidic chip for cell co- culture
Analyst, 2022 Nov 21;147(23):5409-5418
/07
2022
Krokowski D, Jobava R, Szkop KJ, Chen CW, Fu X, Venus S, Guan BJ, Wu J, Gao Z, Banaszuk W, Tchorzewski M, Mu T, Ropelewski P, Merrick WC, Mao Y, Sevval AI, Miranda HC, Qian SB, Manifava M, Ktistakis NT, Vourekas A, Jankowsky E, Topisirovic I, Larsson O, Hatzoglou M. Stress-induced perturbations in intracellular amino acids reprogram mRNA translation in osmoadaptation independently of the ISR.
Cell Rep. 2022 Jul 19;40(3):111092
/08
2022
LaForce GR*, Farr JS*, Liu J, Akesson C, Gumus E, Pinkard O, Miranda HC, Johnson K, Sweet TJ, Ji P, Lin A, Coller J, Philippidou P, Wagner EJ, Schaffer AE. Suppression of premature transcription termination leads to reduced mRNA isoform diversity and neurodegeneration.
Neuron 2022 Apr 20;110(8):1340-1357.e7
/09
2021
Ahn YR, Coatti G, Liu J, Gumus E, Schaffer AE*, Miranda HC*. An epilepsy-associated ACTL6B variant captures neuronal hyperexcitability in a human iPSC model.
J Neurosci Res 2021 Jan;99(1):110-123
/10
2021
Jishi A, Qi X, Miranda HC. Implications of mRNA translation dysregulation for neurological disorders.
Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2021 Jun;114:11-19.
/11
2018
Badders NM, Korff A, Miranda HC, Vuppala PK, Smith RB, Winborn BJ, Quemin ER, Sopher BL, Dearman J, Messing J, Kim NC, Moore J, Freibaum BD, Kanagaraj AP, Fan B, Tillman H, Chen PC, Wang Y, Freeman BB III, Li Y, Kim HJ, La Spada AR, Taylor JP. Selective Modulation of the Androgen Receptor Activation Function-2 Domain Rescues Degeneration in Spinal Bulbar Muscular Atrophy.
Nat Med 24, 427–437 (2018)
/12
2016
Polanco MJ, Parodi S, Piol D, Stack C, Chivet M, Contestabile A, Miranda HC, Lievens Pm, Espinoza S, Jochum T, Rocchi A, Grunseich C, Gainetdinov RR, Cato AC, Lieberman AP, La Spada Ar, Sambataro F, Fischbeck KH, Gozes I, Pennuto M. Adenylyl cyclase activating polypeptide reduces phosphorylation and toxicity of the polyglutamine-expanded androgen receptor in spinobulbar muscular atrophy.
Sci Transl Med. 2016 Dec 21;8(370):370ra181.
/13
2014
Cortes CJ*, Miranda HC*, Frankowski H, Batlevi Y, Young JE, Le A, Ivanov N, Sopher BL, Carromeu C, Muotri A, Garden GA, La Spada AR. TFEB transcription interference underlies a pathological autophagic flux defect in Spinal & Bulbar Muscular Atrophy cell lines, transgenic mice, and stem cell models.
Nat Neurosci 2014 Aug 10.
/14
2012
Miranda HC, Herai RH, Thomé CH, Gomes GG, Panepucci RA, Orellana MD, Covas DT, Muotri AR, Greene LJ, Faça VM. A quantitative proteomic and transcriptomic comparison of human mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow and umbilical cord vein.
Proteomics 2012 Aug;12(17):2607-17.
CONTACT
Miranda Lab
Biomedical Research Building 719
2109 Adelbert Road
Cleveland, Ohio
44106-4955

Tel: (216) 368-8811
Fax: (216) 368-3432

helen.miranda@case.edu
helen.miranda@case.edu
CLE.OH
Miranda Lab
Department of Genetics.
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University