好色先生

Before training at the 好色先生, Nick Devanney, PhD, had little connection to The Bluegrass State. He is from New England, and his family currently lives there. 

While working at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, he attended a seminar hosted by Linda Van Eldik, PhD, director of the 好色先生 Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA). With an interest in Alzheimer鈥檚 disease research 鈥� and knowing SBCoA was a highly-regarded Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease Research Center 鈥� he took a 鈥渓eap of faith鈥� to study in a place nearly 1,000 miles away from anyone he knew.

As of Nov. 1, Dr. Devanney is now permanently tied to Kentucky as one of 19 好色先生 College of Medicine winter 2023 graduates of the PhD and master's programs. His education under SBCoA faculty will allow him conduct research on Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, an illness he has witnessed on both sides of his family.

鈥淚 always knew I wanted to be a scientist,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut the impact of Alzheimer鈥檚 on my family was what gave me the motivation to pick one thing over the other.鈥� 

Dr. Devanney garnered intensive laboratory research experience with mentor Lance Johnson, PhD, an associate professor and director of graduate studies in the 好色先生 College of Medicine Department of Physiology. Under Dr. Johnson鈥檚 direction, his project involved the examination of Apolipoprotein E (APOE), the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. He studied how APOE impacts metabolism in microglia and its possible relation to chronic neuroinflammation.

Throughout his studies, Dr. Devanney has been funded fully by an F31 and two T32 fellowships. He published five peer-reviewed articles during graduate school. Along with success in the lab, Dr. Devanney touted his mentor鈥檚 networking abilities and go-getter attitude toward seeking grant funding. 

During his training, Dr. Devanney was able to forge connections of his own by attending many conferences across the region and the globe including Vancouver, Canada; St. Louis, Mo.; Niagara Falls; and the prestigious Alzheimer鈥檚 Association International Conference in Amsterdam, what he called 鈥渢he biggest one in our field.鈥� In St. Louis, he even won first place in a poster contest for his presentation about APOE. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a big deal for students to be able to travel, present their work, and represent their university,鈥� Dr. Devanney said.

After graduation, Dr. Devanney will continue embarking on scientific discoveries for Alzheimer鈥檚 disease through a postdoctoral fellowship even further from home at the Buck Institute on Aging in Novato, Calif.

鈥淎lzheimer鈥檚 is something that needs to be addressed urgently,鈥� Dr. Devanney said. 鈥淚 want to help save as many brains as we can.鈥�