Amnah Eltahir's Dissertation Defense (9/23/2020): Novel Electrochemical Methods for Human Neurochemistry
Dissertation Defense: Novel Electrochemical Methods for Human Neurochemistry
Amnah Eltahir
Graduate Student, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest University's School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences
Graduate Research Assistant, Montague Lab and Center for Human Neuroscience Research, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
Sept. 23, 2021 at 1:00 p.m.
About this Dissertation
Neuroscience characterizes nervous system functions from the cellular to the systems level. A gap in available technologies has prevented neuroscientist from studying how changes in the molecular dynamics in the brain relate to psychiatric conditions. Recent efforts by the Montague Laboratory have adapted neurochemistry techniques for use in human patients. Consequently, a new “random burst sensing” approach was developed that challenged existing assumptions about electrochemistry. In this study, in-vivo experiments were conducted to push the limits of electrochemical sensing by reducing the voltage amplitude range and increasing sensing temporal resolution of electrochemical sensing beyond previously established limits. The results of this study offer novel neurochemistry approaches and act as a jumping off point for future technological developments.
More About the Candidate and Project
Education
Virginia Tech Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health, Ph.D. Candidate
Virginia Tech, B.S., Physics
Training
Graduate Research Assistant, Montague Lab and Center for Human Neuroscience Research, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
Mentor
Read Montague, Ph.D., Virginia Tech Carilion Vernon Mountcastle Research Professor, and Director, Center for Human Neuroscience Research, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
Committee Members
- Giti Khodaparest, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Physics, College of Science, Virginia Tech
- Kenneth Kishida, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest School of Medicine
- Brooks King-Casas, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
- Terry Lohrenz, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Montague Lab, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
- Rosalyn Moran, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Honors
- Neuroscience Scholars Program Fellow, Society for Neuroscience, 2019–2021
- HS&T Commercialization Fellowship, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, 2019
- SPINES Scholar, Marine Biological Laboratory, 2019
- Diversity Supplement Award, National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, 2018–2020
Presentations
Eltahir, A., White, J., Lohrenz, T., Kishida, K., Montague, P., 2018. Modeling Multiple Analytes Using Fast Scan Cyclic Voltammetry. Computational Psychiatry Meeting, San Diego, CA. (poster)
Publications
Eltahir, A., White, J., Lohrenz, T., Kishida, K., Montague, P., 2020. Low Amplitude Random Burst Sensing of Neuromodulators. Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Montreal, Canada. (abstract)