Longitudinal clinical observations and motor coordination assessments of the SOD1G93A rat model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- How the G93A mutation is relevant to ALS and how the SOD1 rat was generated
- How disease phenotype in the SOD1 rat can be monitored via key clinical observations, specific motor function assays, and biochemical characterization
- How variability in disease phenotype in the SOD1 rat is addressed in study planning
- About pros and cons of rats versus mice for neurodegenerative research
Dr. Chris Butt
Sr. Director Neuroscience, Inotiv Boulder
Dr. Chris Butt, senior director of neuroscience at Inotiv, has over 25 years of experience in neuroscience discovery research and non-clinical testing services. He joined Inotiv, formerly Bolder BioPATH, in 2020 to establish the current neuroscience team. Prior to Inotiv, Dr. Butt was at DSM, a global leader in health and nutrition, where he was a senior science fellow that implemented new technologies for supporting commercial products and medical devices. Prior to DSM, he was an assistant professor of neuroscience at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. He earned a PhD in 2000 from the University of Kentucky where he investigated the roles of cholinergic receptors in the wiring of the retina to the brain during development. Dr. Butt then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute for Behavioral Genetics at the University of Colorado-Boulder studying the interactions between nicotine and alcohol.
Jessica Ramadhin, PhD
Field Application Scientist, Taconic Biosciences
Dr. Jessica Ramadhin received her B.A. in Biological Sciences from Cornell University and earned her Ph.D. in Infectious Diseases from the University of Georgia. During her graduate studies, she tested two anti-inflammatory compounds as therapeutics for obesity and metabolic syndrome. She then completed her postdoctoral training in the Department of Gastroenterology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she examined how myeloid-specific knockout of the glycolytic enzyme hexokinase 2 impacted rodent models of obesity, colitis, and infection. Jessica has worked with animal models for many years and has a wide range of in vivo experience related to infectious diseases, immunology, metabolism, and the gut microbiome.