Moruno Lab
Jose Felix Moruno, PhD – Instructor
Education & Training
PhD Biotechnology, Polytechnic University of Valencia – Spain
Areas of Interest
Research interests: Neurodegeneration and cerebrovascular aging
Research & Experience
Dr. Moruno’s research focuses on two main aspects of the aged brain biology. On one hand, the aged brain losses its capacity to remove damaged organelles and toxic compounds from cells by autophagy downregulation. On the other hand, in the aged brain cells that constitute the cerebral vasculature (endothelial cells) might enter in an irreversible proliferative-arrest state (senescence), which negatively affects cerebral blood flow and cerebrovascular architecture. Both reduced autophagy and senescence cells accumulation in the aged brain are associated to brain dysfunction and dementia. Identifying targets involved in these mechanisms will help to develop new therapeutic approaches to prevent, or at least mitigate, dementia.
Sheelu Monga, PhD – Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Education & Training
PhD Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology – Haifa, Israel
Postdoctoral Fellowship Department of Human Biology, University of Haifa – Haifa, Israel
Areas of Interest
Research interests: Aseptic surgical techniques in animal models
Clinical interests: Organoid, tissue, iPS cell, and primary cell culture development
Research & Experience
Currently, I am working with endothelial cells. I have more than 12 years of in vitro experience. I have worked with cell lines, primary cells, iPS cells, organoids, various iPS-derived cells, tissue cultures, microbial cultures, etc. I also like to work with animals and recently started with aseptic BCAS surgeries on mice.
Hobbies & Interests
Traveling, photography, and dance