GALVAN LAB
Personnel
Veronica Galvan, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Professor and Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair of Aging Research
Department of Biochemistry and Physiology
Director, Oklahoma Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging
Co-Director, Center for Geroscience
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
VA Research Career Scientist, US Department of Veterans Affairs
Oklahoma City VA Medical Center
Fellow, American Aging Association
Past President, American Aging Association
Editor-in-Chief, Geroscience (The Journal of the American Aging Association)
Stacy Hussong, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Research
Dr. Hussong earned her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota studying the role of immunoproteasome in the retina in the laboratory of Dr. Deborah Ferrington. She joined the Galvan Lab as a postdoctoral fellow where her research focus was on the neurobiology of aging and Alzheimer’s disease.
In particular, Dr. Hussong’s research has focused on the role of neuronal mTOR signaling and how it functions in brain and peripheral metabolism, and cognitive function including age-related and Alzheimer’s disease-related cognitive dysfunction. In transitioning to an Assistant Professor of Research, she has explored the role of mTOR signaling in brain and peripheral vasculature. Her data demonstrates that mTOR is a critical signaling pathway for driving endothelial cell dysfunction both with age as well as Alzheimer’s disease. Recently, in collaboration with Dr. Galvan, Dr. Hussong discovered that soluble pathogenic tau enters brain microvascular endothelial cells and triggers cellular senescence and brain microvascular dysfunction.
Haneen Makhlouf, M.S.
Graduate Research Assistant
Haneen is a Graduate Student in the University of Oklahoma's Neuroscience Program. She holds a master's degree in medical Biochemistry from Jordan University of Science and Technology. Haneen joined the Galvan Lab in 2022 and investigates the impact of tau-induced astrocyte senescence on brain homeostasis and its contribution to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Her work seeks to advance our understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying Alzheimer's disease to identify novel therapeutic targets and interventions.
Kylie M. Williams, MBA, B.S.
Research Assistant
Kylie obtained her Masters of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science at Delaware Valley University in PA. Kylie has substantial experience in veterinary sciences and joined the Galvan Lab in 2021, where she oversees and manages the experimental animal colony, including but not limited to the use of complex genetic tools in experimental design and the measurement of cognitive and non-cognitive components of behavior. Kylie is also key personnel in the Geroscience COBRE MACI Core at OUHSC, where she works with Research Project Leaders and other investigators on single-cell transcriptomic (RNAseq) studies.
Kylee White
Animal Technician
Kylee worked as a Veterinary Assistant before joining the Galvan lab in 2023, where she focuses on the maintenance of the animal colony. Kylee assists in the experimental design and the measurement of cognitive and non-cognitive components of behavior of the animal colony.
Lauren Miller, Ph.D.
Post Doctoral Fellow
Dr. Miller earned her Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in the lab of Dr. Shannon Conley. Her dissertation studies focused on the contribution of IGF-1-dependent signaling in vascular smooth muscle cells to vascular cognitive impairment and dementia in aging mouse models.
She joined the Galvan lab as a postdoctoral fellow to study the contribution of cerebrovascular disease to age-related dementias. Her current research is focused on uncovering mTOR-dependent mechanisms of cerebrovascular dysfunction in aging and Alzheimer’s models. She is using a combination of molecular assays and in vivo physiological measurements to understand how mTOR regulates neurovascular coupling responses.
Aishwarya Muppala, M.S.
Graduate Research Assistant
Aishwarya is a Graduate Student in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology program at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. She holds a master’s degree in Biotechnology from Vellore Institute of Technology in India. Aishwarya joined the lab at the beginning of 2024, bringing with her a passion for advancing aging research. Her current research focuses on delineating the role of LRP1 in the uptake of pathogenic tau in human brain endothelial cells (HBEC). Through her research she hopes to gain insight into mechanisms underlying Alzheimer's pathogenesis.