Name: Rose Kavanaugh
Major: Biological Sciences
Research Location: Notre Dame
Using zebrafish as a model organism, Rose's research project aims to illuminate the specific relationship between retinoic acid and two podocyte transcription factors, pax2a and lhx1a, that function in a pathway implicated in many cases of end-stage renal disease. Her results showed a significant increase in both gene and protein expression in early podocyte development.
Rose says, "I'm a nursing assistant and an aspiring doctor, and a lot of my patients suffer from end-stage renal disease. I think preventative healthcare is extremely vital, especially for low-income families that suffer significant financial burdens from dialysis. So, hopefully my work can lead to novel targets for therapies for podocyte-associated glomerulopathies."