Our Trainees

Spotlight: Blaine Weiss

My name is Blaine Weiss, and I am a graduate student in the department of pharmacology and nutritional sciences in the lab of Christopher Norris, PhD. Our group studies the role of astrocyte reactivity in contributing to the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
My family moved to Lexington from Tampa in 2003 and quickly fell in love with the natural beauty of Kentucky. I graduated from Tates Creek High School before beginning my undergraduate education at UK. I began my career at Sanders-Brown in 2015 and was hired as a technician upon graduation.

Spotlight: James Overly

My name is James Overly, and I am junior biology and neuroscience student. I have been in the lab of Daniel Lee, MD, at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging for 2 years, where we study Alzheimer’s disease and other tauopathies. Under Dr. Lee’s mentorship, my focus on Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies brought me towards the study of polyamine metabolism and the polyamine stress response (PSR). This work investigates the role of polyamines, aliphatic polycations essential for various physiological functions, particularly under conditions of stress.

Spotlight: Bernardo Aguzzoli Heberle

My name is Bernardo Aguzzoli Heberle, and I am a third-year PhD candidate at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, working in the lab of Mark Ebbert, PhD. From a young age, I witnessed the devastating effects of Alzheimer's disease on my family. Both of my grandfathers were diagnosed with this cruel ailment when I was around six years old. The toll it took on my loved ones left a mark on me. The suffering they endured motivated me to embark on a path to better understand Alzheimer's disease and, hopefully, contribute to finding solutions.