Neural Control of Organ Degeneration and Regeneration (NeuralCODR) Training Program

Co-Director

Dr. Horner has a long-standing passion and commitment to graduate and postgraduate training. He has proven expertise in training graduate, postdoctoral, and clinical fellows in the basic biology of neural stem cells and plasticity to whole animal systems of disease modeling and preclinical translation. Many of his former students currently hold faculty positions or remain in research positions in private or public research institutions. He strongly supports the development of innovative training structures that drive collaborative research. For example, he co-founded Route28 Summits in Neurobiology which is a one-week intensive problem-solving workshop for trainees and early stage faculty (www.route28.org). Horner spearheaded the development of the NeuralCODR program. He also founded and directs the graduate-level Neural Control of Organ Degeneration and Regeneration course that is team taught annually in support of NeuralCODR.

Horner’s research laboratory focuses on the interaction between glial and neural cells following central nervous system challenge and aging; specifically: 1) mechanisms of adult stem cell‐derived lesion remodeling/repair, and 2) the role of gliogenesis and gliosis in neural degeneration and aging.

Co-Director

As a professor of biochemistry & cell biology at Rice University, Dr. Farach-Carson provided scientific leadership and vision for the BioScience Research Collaborative and helped foster a climate of interdisciplinary and translational research and innovation. She became a strategic advisor for the Texas Medical Center, and rejoined the UTHealth School of Dentistry faculty as director of clinical and translational research and professor in the Department of Diagnostic and Biomedical Sciences.

Mary "Cindy" Farach-Carson’s laboratory explores bioengineering and organ modeling with a focus on the innervated salivary system. She has a long-standing history of leading development efforts within the Texas Medical Center and as the co-director of the Gulf Coast Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, she will cultivate educational opportunities for NeuralCODR trainees. In 2016, Farach-Carson received the Presidential Mentoring Award from Rice University, reflecting the contributions of her many trainees throughout the years who have gone on to successful careers in academia, industry, biotech, scientific writing, medicine, dentistry, and research funding agencies including the National Institutes of Health , private research foundations, and regulatory agencies including the United States Food and Drug Administration . Through her leadership roles, Farach-Carson seeks to strengthen NeuralCODR training opportunities and to increase the number of women and underrepresented groups in training cohorts.

Shaheerah Khan, PhD was selected as a 2025 Walter fellow in our NeuralCODR postdoctoral training program. She received her PhD in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics specializing in cancer biology focusing on circular RNA regulatory networks in early-stage Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Her previous postdoc training in RNA Therapeutics involved developing novel mRNA therapeutics and specific miRNA off-switches for Glioblastoma multiforme. As a NeuralCODR trainee, her primary mentor is Yi-Lan Weng, PhD (Neural Development and Tools) and her secondary mentor is Muralidhar L. Hegde, PhD (Nervous System and Peripheral Organ Disorders). Her project will utilize both dry and wet lab skills to study the RNA modification (m6A) landscape in age-related disorders like Alzheimer’s Disease, deciphering the mechanism of neuroinflammation, and to develop therapeutics to recover the hypomethylation in disease conditions. Dr. Khan’s project will help advance our understanding of aging pathology and pave the way for novel therapeutic interventions.

Dr. Khan is sponsored through the generosity of Paula and Rusty Walter and Walter Oil & Gas Corp.

Borna Sarker, PhD was selected as a 2024 NIH-funded postdoctoral fellow in the NeuralCODR postdoctoral training program. Her current project aims to investigate mechanisms that promote axon regeneration after neurotrauma, using the murine retina as an accessible model system to study contributions of intrinsic and extrinsic signaling to axon growth. Specifically, she is examining the innate immune response and the therapeutic potential of modulating glial-mediated neuroregenerative processes in the context of optic neuropathies. Dr. Sarker obtained her PhD from the University of Texas at San Antonio, where her research focused on examining the effects of pharmacological defibrinogenation on microglial activation, vascular damage, and visual acuity in the diabetic murine retina. As a NeuralCODR trainee, her mentorship team consists of Nicholas Tran, PhD (Nervous System & Peripheral Organ Disorders) and Robert Krencik, PhD (Neural Development & Tools). Dr. Sarker's project aims to leverage the insights from a combination of murine in vitro and in vivo models, complemented by human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived organoid culture systems, to identify cell-type specific therapies that have the potential to counteract neurodegeneration within and beyond the retina.

Dr. Sarker is sponsored through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number T32NS126115.

Kevin Ung, PhD was selected as a 2024 NIH-funded postdoctoral fellow in the NeuralCODR postdoctoral training program. Dr. Ung received his PhD in Developmental Biology from Baylor College of Medicine, with his previous research focusing on various roles of neuron-glia interactions in processing sensory information. His training is primarily in electrophysiology, genetic manipulation of model organisms, and real-time imaging of neuronal processes. As a NeuralCODR trainee, Dr Ung’s primary mentor is Jeffrey Yau, PhD (Neural Innervation & Organ Engineering), his secondary mentor is Caleb Kemere, PhD (Neural System & Peripheral Organ Disorders), and his clinical mentor is Dimitry Sayenko, MD, PhD. His current project aims to investigate the neurophysiological basis of bimanual touch and to investigate the role of intracortical microstimulation on network activity of bimanual sensory processing. Dr. Ung's research will provide a foundation for utilizing intracortical microstimulation as an intervention for restoring natural touch sensation.

Dr. Ung is is sponsored through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number T32NS126115.

Sailee Sham Lavekar, PhD, was selected as a 2024 Walter fellow in our NeuralCODR postdoctoral training program. Her project aims to define human astrocyte reactivity to amyloid plaques within bioengineered neural organoids. She received her PhD in Vision Neuroscience from Purdue University, Indiana. As a NeuralCODR trainee, her primary mentor is Robert Krencik, PhD (Neural Development and Tools) and her secondary mentor is Matthew Rasband, PhD (Neural Development and Tools). Her project will utilize organoids to elucidate the etiology of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Lavekar's project will delve deeper to understand how astrocyte reactivity can be harnessed to identify biomarkers and develop therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Lavekar is sponsored through the generosity of Paula and Rusty Walter and Walter Oil & Gas Corp.

Matthew Shorey, PhD was selected as a 2023 NIH-funded postdoctoral fellow in the NeuralCODR postdoctoral training program. His current project aims to investigate membrane voltage as a potential therapeutic target to modulate the replication rate and/or drug sensitivity of glioma stem cells. Dr. Shorey obtained his PhD at Penn State primarily looking at the interaction between axon regeneration pathways and microtubule cytoskeleton construction of DRG sensory neurons in adult zebrafish. His training is primarily in microscopy-based laser ablation, neuronal regeneration, genetic manipulation of model organisms, and real-time in vivo imaging of subcellular dynamics in neurons. As a NeuralCODR trainee, his mentorship team consists of Francois St-Pierre, PhD (Neural Development & Tools), Robert Rostomily, MD (Nervous System & Peripheral Organ Disorders), Carmen Dessauer, PhD, (Neural Development & Tools), and Robert Krencik, PhD (Neural Development & Tools). Dr. Shorey's project aims to leverage new targets to find a treatment for glioma which at present is uniformly lethal.

Dr. Shorey is sponsored through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number T32NS126115.

Kyoungsoon Kim, PhD was selected as a 2023 NIH-funded postdoctoral fellow in our NeuralCODR postdoctoral training program. His current project aims to investigate the effect of myoelectrical signal guided training on upper extremity rehabilitation in chronic stroke. Dr. Kim received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, where his previous research focused on developing a non-pharmacological procedure for targeting spasticity in post-stroke gait rehabilitation using operant H-reflex conditioning and computationally analyzing the learning mechanism behind the operant H-reflex conditioning. As a NeuralCODR trainee, Dr. Kim’s primary mentor is Jinsook Roh, PhD (Neural Innervation & Organ Engineering), and his secondary mentor is Marcia O’Malley, PhD (Neural Innervation & Organ Engineering). The objective of Dr. Kim’s project is to determine the feasibility of normalizing abnormal intermuscular coordination patterns in the arm via an electromyographic signal-guided movement exercise by using an “assist-as-needed” robotic controller in chronic stroke and evaluate the outcome of plasticity induced by the training. Dr. Kim’s study aims to develop neuromuscular coordination-guided exercise that can be effective in upper extremity rehabilitation across diverse levels of severity post-stroke.

Dr. Kim is sponsored through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number T32NS126115.

Sajedeh Nasr Esfahani, PhD was selected as the inaugural NIH-funded postdoctoral fellow in our NeuralCODR postdoctoral training program for her project developing cell-based therapeutics to improve neuron reconnectivity after various nervous system injuries. Dr. Nasr received her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. As a NeuralCODR trainee, her primary mentor is Robert C. Krencik, PhD (Neural Development and Tools), her secondary mentor is Mary C. "Cindy" Farach-Carson, PhD (Neural Innervation and Organ Engineering), and her clinical mentor is Amir Faraji MD, PhD. Her project addresses the lack of bioengineering strategies to promote neuroregeneration in the human central and peripheral nervous system. Astrocytes have high potential as a therapeutic cell type for transplantation as they make significant contributions to neural network development, maturation, synaptogenesis, and homeostasis. Dr. Nasr is developing methods to use alginate hydrogels to stably encapsulate human astrocytes and permit the secretion of proteins for the repair of either the injured central nervous system or the injured peripheral nervous system.

Dr. Nasr is sponsored through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number T32NS126115.

Sirena Soriano is investigating the role that the gut microbiota plays in the link between traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Soriano obtained her PhD from the University of Valencia, Spain in 2016. As part of her doctoral training, she joined the laboratory of Juan Botas, PhD, at Baylor College of Medicine as a visiting fellow to perform a genetic interaction screening in a fly model of Friedreich ataxia. She later joined the laboratory of Rodney C. Samaco, PhD at Baylor College of Medicine as a postdoctoral associate where she participated in the molecular and behavioral characterization of rodent models of autism spectrum disorders. Dr. Soriano's primary mentor is Sonia Villapol, PhD (Nervous System and Peripheral Organ Disorders). Her secondary mentor is Muralidhar Hegde, PhD (Nervous System and Peripheral Organ Disorders) and her clinical mentor is Eamonn Quigley, MD. Her research aims to restore the gut microbiota in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease in order to reduce neurodegeneration that occurs following a traumatic brain injury. The results from Dr. Soriano's research will provide the foundation for pursuing novel therapies based in manipulating the microbiota for Alzheimer's disease-related pathologies consequence of traumatic brain injury.

Dr. Soriano is sponsored through the generosity of Paula and Rusty Walter and Walter Oil & Gas Corp.

As a NeuralCODR fellow, Caroline Cvetkovic sought to engineer biomimetic nano-scale vesicles applicable for central nervous system targeting and therapeutics by combining lipid-based nanoparticles with human stem cell-derived neural cells. Dr. Cvetkovic’s primary mentor was Robert C. Krencik, PhD (Neural Development and Tools). Her secondary mentor was Francesca Taraballi, PhD (Neural Innervation and Organ Engineering), and Sean Barber, MD served as her clinical advisor. During her tenure as a fellow, she was awarded the Excellence in Mentoring Award (2020 Houston Methodist OGSTA) as well as both the Juror’s Choice Winner and the People’s Choice Winner in the NeuroArt Image Contest (2020). Additionally, she published one first author and one co-authored journal article. Currently, she is a Teaching Professor of Bioengineering at the Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Cvetkovic was sponsored through the generosity of Paula and Rusty Walter and Walter Oil & Gas Corp.

As a NeuralCODR fellow, Betsy Salazar explored the therapeutic effects of electrical stimulation on sensorimotor function after spinal cord injury. Betsy Salazar's primary mentor was Philip J. Horner, PhD (Nervous System and Peripheral Organ Disorders). Her secondary mentor was Rose Khavari, MD (Nervous System and Peripheral Organ Disorders) and Dimitry Sayenko, MD, PhD served as her clinical advisor. Dr. Salazar now has a faculty appointment as a Research Scientist in the Urology Department at Houston Methodist. Her work focuses on studying the bladder-brain connection and utilizing noninvasive neuromodulation techniques to treat neurogenic and nonneurogenic bladder in humans. Notably, she recently presented data collected during her tenure as a NeuralCODR fellow at Mission Connect where her poster was awarded 1st place.

Dr. Salazar was sponsored through the generosity of Paula and Rusty Walter and Walter Oil & Gas Corp.

Matt Hogan was a member of the first NeuralCODR cohort. Dr. Hogan’s research centers on tools and applications to selectively modulate the activity of neural circuits in the injured and naïve spinal cord to enhance regeneration and facilitate integration of neural stem cells to improve function. His primary mentor was Philip J. Horner, PhD (Nervous System and Peripheral Organ Disorders), in whose laboratory he completed his first-year focal project. His secondary mentor was Robert C. Krencik, PhD (Neural Development and Tools), and Sean Barber, MD served as his clinical mentor. Dr. Hogan’s clinical experience focused on learning how to perform electrical implantations. Dr. Hogan submitted an NRSA and several foundation fellowship applications based on the clinically relevant design. His cross-disciplinary training as a NeuralCODR fellow has forged Dr. Hogan's project into an exciting intersection of the role of neural activity and neuronal plasticity after brain injury.