Ashley earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Science at the Ohio State University with Dr. Brian Kaspar studying glial-mediated motor neuron death in ALS. She trained as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California Berkeley with Dr. Andrew Dillin where she used C. elegans as a model system to understand the role of glial cells in aging and organismal stress resistance. In November 2021, she started her own research program at the NIH with the aim to understand how glial cells regulate aging and disease.
Kar Men Mah, Ph.D.
Lab Manager and Research Scientist
Karmen received her Ph.D. from The University of Iowa where she studied the role of cell adhesion molecules in the formation of proper dendritic branches. She then did her postdoc at the University of Miami working on a drug discovery project utilizing kinase inhibitors to promote axon growth and regeneration following spinal cord injury in rodents. She has since joined the Frakes’ lab to help manage the lab and continues to be a mouse wrangler extraordinaire.
Carrie Sheeler, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Fellow
Carrie is interested in the role of glia as mediators of brain and body health in disease and aging. She received her doctorate in Neuroscience from the University of Minnesota where she studied the CAG trinucleotide repeat disorder Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 1 (SCA1). In addition to a number of collaborations within the lab, she discovered underlying transcriptional and phenotypic changes in hiPSC-derived motor neurons driven by the ATXN1 mutation and identified future targets of interest for work investigating mechanisms of premature lethality in SCA1. Outside of the lab, Carrie enjoys baking, board games, gardening, and playing in community music ensembles.
Areebah Rahman
Graduate Student, NIH-Brown GPP
Areebah received her B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience from Temple University where she studied the lipid metabolism and homeostasis of glioblastoma multiforme within the laboratory of Dr. Dianne Langford. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Neuroscience under the mentorship of Dr. Ashley Frakes through the NIH Graduate Program Partnership with Brown University. She is excited to be a part of the lab and is broadly interested in how glial cells regulate neuronal protein aggregation and health. Outside of the lab, she enjoys baking, photography, and exploring the DMV area.
Saebom Kwon, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Fellow
Saebom received her Ph.D. in Medical Science at Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, South Korea. She studied the role of lipid metabolism regulator NHR-49 in the nervous system of C. elegans during her Ph.D. She is interested in how brain communicates with other tissue to regulate whole body homeostasis. She is excited to work on glial biology in Frakes lab. Outside of lab, she enjoys cooking and exploring coffee places.
Bidushi (Tulip) Chandra, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Fellow
Bidushi (Tulip) received her doctorate from The University of Georgia where she investigated how glial cells develop, regenerate and function using regeneration model Schmidtea mediterranea, primarily focusing on transcription factor ETS-1. She did a brief post-doc studying how enteric glial cells developed in addition to numerous collaborations modeling pediatric medulloblastoma using zebrafish. She has since then joined the Frakes Lab to continue her work in understanding how glial cells signal and respond in various environments and contexts. Outside of lab, she enjoys rowing, traveling, exploring bookstores and museums, and partaking in various crafting projects.
