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
graduated with a BS in Biomedicine and an MS in Immunopathology
from the State
University of Londrina
in Brazil.
ABOUT THE PI
Helen went to earn her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology in the University of Sao Paulo, also in Brazil, under the mentorship of Dr. Lewis Joel Greene. In her graduate work, Helen performed proteomics comparisons of Adult Stem Cells from two different sources (bone marrow and umbilical cord vein). As a graduate student, Helen was one of only 10 Brazilians selected by the renowned stem cell biology experts in the UK 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.
Curran
Curran Landry
PhD Student
Bianaca
Bianca Brenha
PhD Student
James
James Costanzo
Research Assistant
Daniel
Daniel Chen
Research Assistant
Isabelle
Zaboroski Silva
Visiting Scholar
Lizzie
Elizabeth
(Lizzie) Bryson
PREP Student
PUBLICATIONS
Read some of our lab's featured publications.  Or click below to view all on Pubmed.
/01
2018
This is some text inside of a div block.
/02
2016
Sci Transl Med (2016);8(370):370ra181
/03
2016
Nat Med (2016);22(1):37-45
/04
2015
Elife (2015);4:e08493
CONTACT

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
graduated with a BS in Biomedicine and an MS in Immunopathology
from the State
University of Londrina
in Brazil.
ABOUT THE PI
Helen went to earn her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology in the University of Sao Paulo, also in Brazil, under the mentorship of Dr. Lewis Joel Greene. In her graduate work, Helen performed proteomics comparisons of Adult Stem Cells from two different sources (bone marrow and umbilical cord vein). As a graduate student, Helen was one of only 10 Brazilians selected by the renowned stem cell biology experts in the UK 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.
Curran
Curran Landry
PhD Student
Bianaca
Bianca Brenha
PhD Student
James
James Costanzo
Research Assistant
Daniel
Daniel Chen
Research Assistant
Isabelle
Zaboroski Silva
Visiting Scholar
Lizzie
Elizabeth
(Lizzie) Bryson
PREP Student
PUBLICATIONS
Read some of our lab's featured publications.  Or click below to view all on Pubmed.
/01
2018
This is some text inside of a div block.
/02
2016
Sci Transl Med (2016);8(370):370ra181
/03
2016
Nat Med (2016);22(1):37-45
/04
2015
Elife (2015);4:e08493
CONTACT
helen.miranda@case.edu
CLE.OH
Miranda Lab
Department of Genetics.
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University