Kate Emily Foley, PhD, has always been interested in harnessing genetic and environmental factors to mitigate the comorbidities and causes of neurodegenerative symptoms. During her undergraduate career, she used a population genetics approach to examine the interaction of a commonly used herbicide, paraquat, and Parkinson’s disease symptomology in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. She found that sex was a factor in the genetic contribution to paraquat susceptibility. Her PhD research centered on using both genetic (APOE4) and environmental (physical inactivity) risk factors in new mouse models to better understand how these factors interact to influence cerebrovascular dysfunction. Her studies primarily involved genetics and genomics tools, using increasingly complex mouse experiments and cutting-edge methods to profile how cells use genes.
Dr. Foley's postdoctoral work focuses on determining the cellular response of astrocytes and microglia, both types of neuron support cells, to anti-amyloid-beta immunotherapy and whether inhibition of cerebrovascular damage related to the protein matrix metallopeptidase 9 will prevent very tiny brain bleeding events associated with this therapy. These experiences have all centered on gaining a better understanding of the genetic and environmental risk for neurodegeneration and dementias.