Dr. Kelm-Nelson’s Lab

Dr. Kelm-Nelson’s long-term research goal is to understand the mechanisms that modulate vocal behavior in both health and disease. Her work uses a true systems biology approach, encompassing behavioral, genomic, and proteomic analyses to model brain-vocal behavior relationships in both animal model and cell culture systems of Parkinson disease. Her most current NIH-funded research is focused on defining the following gaps in knowledge: (1) the neuroanatomical tracing of the biochemistry of vocalization pathways, (2) the alterations in gene expression within the brain, vocal fold muscle, and blood that result in characteristic gene expression signatures that may constitute early Parkinson disease biomarkers, and (3) the identification and repurposing of FDA approved drugs that have therapeutic effects for vocal communication deficits. The results of this research will ultimately lead to an increased understanding of the onset of behavioral phenotypes, sex differences, neuropathology, and substrates of vocal communication deficits in Parkinson disease, as well as new targeted drug treatment options.

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Funding

• NIH Pathways, mechanisms, and treatments of vocal communication deficits in a Parkinson rat model
• Michael J. Fox Foundation Phenotypic and Construct Validity of Pink1-/- Rat Models for Preclinical Parkinson’s Research

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Publications >>

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