Christian Agudelo

I am a fourth year medical student at the University of Pittsburgh and currently on a research fellowship courtesy of the National Institute of Mental Health. My fellowship and my mentor, Samay Jain M.D., have facilitated my research into the early symptoms of Parkinson's Disease, and given me the opportunity to engage the Parkinson's support community outside of just research. I currently am privileged to lead a Parkinson's support group, where I have learned much about the intimate reality of living with the disease. I have worn many hats in order to get here. After receiving my degree in Biomedical Engineering from Duke, I began my first research position at Florida International University. Under Dr. Philip Stoddard, I looked a the evolution of communication using electric fish. Upon completion with the project, I moved on to researching the physiology of taste at the University of Miami under Dr, Nirpua Chaudari. Concurrently, I volunteered my time with Dr. Dimitri Ivanov, studying the brain's response in the moments after a stroke. During my first two years of medical school, I worked with Dr. Martin Oudega looking at spinal cord regeneration in zebrafish. My current project in the UPMC Department of Neurology is more intimately bound to my impending career as a neurologist. Wanting to perform research more directly connected to people, I have designed a research study looking at the body's physical response to emotion in Parkinson's Disease, a disease whose therapeutic advances have been anemic. This project is my earnest effort to move us forward to a new era of understanding and therapy for Parkinson's Disease.

May 2013