Research Staff

Sophia Todeasa 

Position: Research Technician since 2014

Education: 2014 - BS in Biology, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY

Project: I work on IND-supporting studies investigating the dose, injection route and vector design of AAV gene therapy for GM1-gangliosidosis, a lysosomal storage disease. I study efficacy and neuropathology of direct CNS injections of AAV encoding beta-galactosidase transgene into a GM1 mouse model.

Contact: Sophia.Todeasa@umassmed.edu

 

Hannah Lahey

Position: Research Associate since 2016

Education: 2016 - BS in Behavioral Neuroscience, Minor in Health, Medicine & Science, Lehigh University, Bethelem, PA

Project: The goal of my project is to develop a single AAV vector for systemic gene therapy of GM2 gangliosidosis. Potential vectors are injected intravenously in a mouse model of Sandhoff disease, one of the two GM2 gangliosidoses, and I assess therapeutic efficacy via enzyme activity and GM2 ganglioside content.

Contact: Hannah.Lahey@umassmed.edu

 

Chelsea Webber

Position: Research Associate I since 2016

Education: 2012 - MSc in Clinical Neuroscience, UCL, London, UK; "Exploring mitochondrial calcium homeostasis in primary cultured neurons"

2011 - BS in Psychobiology, Simmons College, Boston, MA

Project: I am the project manager for a pre-clinical investigational new drug (IND)-enabling study assessing toxicity and efficacy of gene therapy for an animal model of Tay-Sachs disease. The results of this study will impact whether clinical IND studies will be conducted.

Contact: Chelsea.Webber@umassmed.edu