Michelle
Michelle
North Quincy High School
Quincy, MA
Mentors:
Nirmala Rayan & Alec Wysoker
Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research | McCarroll Group
Michelle joined the ӳý Summer Scholars Program with a strong interest in understanding the cellular diversity of the human brain and how it changes over time. She became part of the Brain Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN), a multi-institution effort to build a detailed reference map of brain cell types at single-cell resolution. Her project focused on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DFC) — a brain region critical for decision-making, attention, and working memory — and the brain’s immune cells, especially microglia.
After learning the fundamentals of single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq), Michelle processed large datasets from postmortem human brain samples. Using R and the Seurat analysis package, she performed quality control, integrated data across donors, clustered cells into subtypes, and annotated immune cell populations.
Her analysis revealed seven distinct immune clusters, including canonical microglia and a unique “immune-alert” subtype. She identified significant differences in gene expression between donors of different ages and sexes: older individuals showed reduced NAV2 (linked to Alzheimer’s risk) and elevated FKBP5 (associated with inflammation), while females had higher expression of antigen presentation genes like CD74 and males expressed more synaptic function genes like DSCAM.
These findings offer new insight into how demographic factors influence the brain’s immune landscape, potentially affecting vulnerability to neurodegenerative diseases. Michelle’s work will be incorporated into BICAN’s publicly available atlas, providing a resource for researchers worldwide.
Beyond her contributions to the project, Michelle gained valuable skills in computational biology, data visualization, and scientific communication. She learned to navigate the challenges of large-scale datasets and to interpret complex biological patterns in a meaningful way.
“Thanks to BSSP, I had a life-changing and unforgettable experience that will continue to inspire and guide me throughout my journey in the sciences,” she reflected. The summer solidified her interest in combining computational tools with neuroscience to answer questions about human health.
