Assistant Professor, Department of Neurobiology & Biophysics, University of Washington
Project Title: Dissecting the Thermosensory Biology of Soil-Transmitted Parasitic Nematodes
Award Year: 2024
Biography
Dr. Astra Bryant is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology & Biophysics at the University of Washington. She received in B.A. in Biology from Bryn Mawr College followed by a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Stanford University. She completed her postdoctoral training in the lab of Dr. Elissa Hallem at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Bryant is a sensory neuroscientist and parasitologist with a long-held interest in the function and evolution of sensory neural circuits, particularly those with direct relevance to human health and disease. Her research program uses an interdisciplinary, multi-scale approach combining expertise in neuroscience, parasitology, molecular biology, bioinformatics, and genetics to understand the thermosensory mechanisms that enable medically important soil-transmitted helminths to parasitize humans.