PhD Candidate, Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
PhD Student, Ostroumov Lab
Research Interests: Stress, Synaptic Plasticity, Dopamine, GABA
Advisor: Dr. Alexey Ostroumov; Co-mentored by Dr. Ludise Malkova
Rotations: Dr. Ludise Malkova, Dr. Haiyan He, Dr. Alexey Ostroumov
Prior Education: (2022) MS in Health Sciences, University of Brasilia, Brazil; (2024) MS in neuroscience, Georgetown University
Helena Schuch (she/her/hers) is a PhD candidate in the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience (IPN). She graduated in Biology from the University of Brasilia, Brazil, in 2018. At the University of Brasilia, she obtained a master’s degree in health sciences with a concentration in neuroscience in 2022. In the same year, she was a recipient of a Fulbright fellowship to conduct her PhD in the United States. At this time, Helena joined the IPN program at Georgetown University, where she is working under her mentor Dr. Alexey Ostroumov, and co-mentor Dr. Ludise Malkova, to study the synaptic mechanisms of stress.
Her main research focuses on alterations to chloride homeostasis via the potassium-chloride co-transporter, KCC2, downregulation in neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) after stress, and their consequences on reward-related behaviors. She hopes to elucidate how stress-induced KCC2 downregulation differentially changes local VTA inputs onto separate DA projections, using techniques such as Patch-Clamp Electrophysiology, Behavioral assays, Fiber photometry, Optogenetics, Immunohistochemistry, and Western blotting.