Neurological Research

Cornell students enjoy a range of outstanding research opportunities on campus in the health sciences.  And now students like Miki Otis also work side-by-side with research professionals at the University of Chicago, thanks to a relationship with Rich Kraig '71, director of the U of C's Cerebrovascular Disease and Aging Laboratories.

Kraig's research focuses on mechanisms that may protect the brain from the effects of strokes, migraines, and other neurological disorders.  His findings were recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience.  Otis investigated the role learning plays in neuroprotection, especially from ischemic attacks such as those that happen with temporal lobe epilepsy.

"I was allowed a lot of freedom in his lab to explore any ideas I had about the project," she says. "This was especially true when it came to solving problems about why any of the experiments weren't working and whether this in vitro model was representative of the environment in vivo."

Otis spent two blocks and the entire summer in Kraig's lab.  The research experience expanded her outlook on a number of fronts.   "[The experience] made me take a closer look at the role that research has on medicine and how crucial it is to the continuation of better healthcare and newer technologies and drugs.  This research also showed me the importance of what we can do for ourselves (without medicines) to help improve our overall health."

Otis plans to attend medical school after Cornell.  Kraig, meanwhile, assisted Biology Professor Barbara Christie-Pope with the instruction of the Block 1 course Neurobiology, and the two have begun collaborations to bring some of Kraig's techniques into Christie-Pope's own studies on the root causes of neurological diseases such as Parkinson's and Huntington's.