Investigating How Perivascular OPCs Modulate Vascular Morphology and Integrity During Brain Development
Jula van Koetsveld '25
Molecular Cell Biology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Medical Sciences, with a minor in Psychology
My thesis investigates the dynamics of cell migration during brain development, focusing on one specific cell type: oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs). Using a mouse model with a knockout of an important receptor gene in the lab, clustering of OPCs on brain blood vessels was observed. This study explores whether this aberrant migration affects the morphology or integrity of the blood vessels.
What drew you to explore this topic?
The field of translational neuroscience is the perfect combination of my two majors and allowed me to write a thesis that complemented the rest of my UCU education very nicely.