Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia
Annie Ciernia seeks to understand how genes and the environment together shape the brain during development and disease. Her lab combines experimental and computational approaches to understand how gene expression is regulated in the brain and what the epigenetic mechanisms are that turn some genes on and others off across different cell types. The long-term goal of Dr. Ciernia’s work is to use the understanding of gene expression in the brain to find new therapeutic targets for neurological disorders.
In “Beyond the Bench: A Conversation with Annie Ciernia,” Dr. Ciernia recounts her career in science, why a unicorn makes a good lab mascot and the two Trader Joe items she can’t live without.
Watch this talk to Green College Leading Scholars, where Dr. Ciernia explains what genes are and why we should care about them, microglia as “brain gardeners,” and why epigenetics and microglia are “awesome.”
To learn more about the Ciernia lab, click here.