Kristin Sheppard

Class of 2014

Education: BS and MS in Biological Sciences at Cal Poly

 

Biography

Kristin had been interested in the potential stem cells therapies since she learned about the existence of stem cells back in high school. As she continued to learn more about biochemistry and molecular biology, she became increasingly more interested in neurons and neurogenesis. She hoped one day to be able to apply this research and knowledge to treat neurological diseases in a medical setting and help to make stem cells therapies a more realistic and mainstream approach to improving the quality of life for those in need.

She was working in Dr. Fred Gage's lab in the laboratory of genetics at the Salk Institute. Her project involved using hiPSCs to model Schizophrenia in a working neural network. She is involved in differentiating the cells into neurons, grafting the cells into the neural network, in-vivo two-photon imaging of the grafts, and immunohistochemsitry for further analysis of the grafts.

After graduating, Kristin went on to Boston University to obtain an MS in Medical Sciences.

Kristin, presenting her Internship Research at the 2014 CIRM Trainee Meeting.