Chelsea Sala

Chelsea Sala

I am a current junior in the Eberly College of Science at University Park, but I had done the 2+2 program and started my Penn State journey at Greater Allegheny. My major is Biostatistics and I also am minoring in neuroscience. My main research interests are with the brain, neuroscience and understanding neurological mechanisms. My research over the past year has been involved in the Mythological Differences in Fluorescence Lifetime Image Microscopy (FLIM) Analysis within studying parkinson's disease research. I specifically focused on the application of studying the differing NAD(P)H concentrations within the dopamine neurons, to understand further the reason behind the the progressive degeneration of dopamine- producing neurons within the substantia nigra region of the brain. From this research I was able to receive 2 awards at the Penn State Greater Allegheny Undergraduate Research and Creativity Conferences. I can assist those who are looking to get involved in research, finding those opportunities (more specifically but not limited to branch campuses), finding a research mentor, and developing research posters and learning how to present them well.

Current Research Project: 
Methodological Differences in Florescence Lifetime Image Microscopy (FLIM) Analysis
Project Description: 
Florence Lifetime Intensity Microscopy (FLIM) was used to detect endoplasmic reticulum-specific protein bound NADPH. The results were digitally captured and were used to calculate fluorescent lifetimes. Lifetimes were calculated using a second order exponential decay and spatial representations of A1, T1, A2 and T2 were produced using Becker-Hickl SPCImage NG Data Analysis Software. The resulting spatial representations were analyzed using ImageJ with the MBF-Plugin for Microscopy. ImageJ was used to measure the mean AI, T1, A2 and T2 of individual cellular compartments and excel was used to calculate compartment specific weighted lifetime values to determine the amount of bound vs unbound NADPH. During this analysis, it was determined that cellular compartments that should not be expressing the sensor were producing signal.
Mentor(s): 
Dr. Kristal Tucker
Major(s): 
Biostatistics
Minor(s): 
Neuroscience
Email: 
cls6864@psu.edu
Starfish Profile
Campus: 
University Park
Pronouns: 
She/Her
Advising Topics: 
Finding research mentors
Contacting Faculty
Presenting research

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