Robert Pritchard

BioE PhD Proposal Presentation

9:30 am, Monday November 24, 2025

Location: IBB 1128

Advisor: Dr. Hang Lu (School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

Committee Members:

Dr. Amirali Aghazadeh  (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

Dr. Gordon Berman (Department of Biology, Emory University)

Dr. Nathan McDonald (School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology)

Dr. Anqi Wu  (School of Computational Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

How Does Aging Affect Odor Differentiation: Connecting Neural Dysregulation to Behavioral Changes in C. elegans

Cognitive decline, especially sensorimotor deficits, is a prominent part of healthy and pathological aging. Studies across species have found evidence that this loss of cognitive function is in part due to a dysregulation of neural circuits. However, how neuron level changes give rise to this population level effect is still not well understood. The overall objective of this proposal is to quantify the effects of aging on the brain's ability to process sensory information to make motor decisions. We will use the model organism, C. elegans and recent advances microscopy and microfluidics to capture the full path of sensorimotor information through their brains at single cell resolution. This model was selected due to the ease of maintaining isogenic populations and their short lifespans. We will analyze the neural activity in worms at distinct stages to better understand how information processing breaks down with age.  The tools developed in this thesis will be applicable not just to other biological questions in C. elegans but other small model organisms such as zebrafish and Drosophila.