My name is Steve MacLean, and I am a fourth-year graduate student in the department of physiology. I am originally from Beverly Hills, Michigan, and pursued my bachelor’s degree at Central Michigan University. I first came to the University of Kentucky in 2019 as a lab technician under John Gensel, PhD, where I worked for two years studying spinal cord injury. I then applied for the Integrated Biomedical Sciences (IBS) PhD program, which provided me with foundational coursework in genetics, biochemistry, cell signaling, bioinformatics, and statistics. After several lab rotations in the IBS program, I was happy to accept a position in the lab of Lance Johnson, PhD, in the department of physiology.

My name is Ryan Shahidehpour, and as a postdoctoral researcher in lab of Pete Nelson, MD, PhD, in the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, I investigate pathological changes that drive neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging in the human brain. My research focuses on understanding how these diseases progress at the cellular level, with a particular interest in how different pathologies drive neurodegeneration.
My interest in neuroscience started unexpectedly— before stepping into a lab, I spent years competing as a professional boxer while also playing lacrosse internationally.

My name is Elika Moallem, and I am a third-year graduate student in the department of neuroscience, working under the mentorship of Adam Bachstetter, PhD. My research focuses on the interrelationship between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), particularly how metabolic dysfunction after TBI contributes to neurodegeneration. I am passionate about exploring potential therapeutic interventions that target cerebral metabolism to improve long-term outcomes for individuals at risk of cognitive decline after a brain injury.