Current Scholars

My lab investigates the mechanisms by which sensory neurons shape immunity and how these neuroimmune interactions contribute to the pathogenesis of human diseases. We combine techniques from neuroscience and immunology, mouse models of human diseases (infectious and non-infectious), and in vitro cultures of sensory neurons and immune cells to uncover the details of this neural control of immunity and to identify new approaches to treating immune-related diseases by targeting the sensory nervous system.

Dr. Chaney is an assistant professor at Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR) at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research is focused on the development and translation of novel non-invasive molecular imaging strategies to elucidate the inflammatory component of devastating neurological and inflammatory diseases. In particular, she is interested in the relationship between peripheral and central nervous system innate immune responses, and how this crosstalk affects disease development and progression. Dr. Chaney previously worked at Stanford University as a postdoctoral fellow and instructor in the radiology department. She earned her doctorate in neuroscience and neuroimaging from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.

• Email: achaney@wustl.edu

Dr. Colleen Frank is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Neurology. She works with Dr. Jason Hassenstab in the Cognitive Technology Research Laboratory where they study cognition in individuals with preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) using highly sensitive assessments aimed at detecting the earliest stages of the condition. Prior to joining Washington University in St Louis in July 2025, Dr. Frank’s research primarily focused on age-related changes in decision making during normal aging. At WashU, she plans to extend her work to include pathological aging by investigating how financial and health-related decision making evolves in the years preceding and following an AD diagnosis.

Dr. Helen Hwang is an Instructor in the Department of Neurology. She obtained her MD/PhD degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and completed her neurology and fellowship training at Washington University. Dr. Hwang sees patients in the Movement Disorder Clinic at Washington University and conducts research on Lewy Body Dementia in the laboratory of Dr. Paul Kotzbauer. Her research focuses on CSF and tissue biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease. She is also interested in potential small-molecule therapeutics for Parkinson’s disease and Lewy Body Dementia.

Abhi earned her Ph.D. in Immunology from Indiana University School of Medicine, where she investigated cytokine signaling pathways involved in lipid antigen presentation to innate lymphocytes called Natural Killer T (NKT) cells. Her interest in neuroimmunology led her to study CD4+ T cell-mediated motor neuron survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and peripheral nerve injury during her postdoctoral training at IUSM. She later joined Washington University in St. Louis, contributing to preclinical testing of antisense oligonucleotides targeting astrocytic α2-Na+/K+ ATPase in ALS. Currently, in the Karch Lab, Abhi investigates microglia-specific genetic risk factors for primary tauopathies, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias by leveraging human microglia-like cells differentiated from patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells.

• Email: iyera@wustl.edu

Dr. Kellen Petersen joined the Fluid Biomarker Core Lab in March 2024 as an Instructor in the Department of Neurology at Washington University in St. Louis. He received a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. Following doctoral work, Dr. Petersen was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He applied statistical models and machine learning approaches to understand the relationship between biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease, cognition, and disease progression. Dr. Petersen has also worked on methods aimed at understanding AD heterogeneity as well as developing accurate diagnostic and prognostic tools for clinicians and researchers. His current interests are in understanding the relationship between AD blood-based biomarkers and cognition.

Michelle Rudman, MD, PhD is a postdoctoral fellow in aging and dementia at the Washington University Knight ADRC. She obtained her combined MD/PhD degree from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in 2019 and completed her adult neurology residency training at Washington University/Barnes Jewish Hospital in 2023. Dr. Rudman sees patients in the Washington University Memory Diagnostic Center and conducts research on Alzheimer’s disease in the laboratory of Dr. David M. Holtzman. Dr. Rudman’s research focuses on understanding the ways in which the adaptive immune response may be exacerbating neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in a mouse model of tauopathy. This research has important implications for understanding the ways in which the immune response contributes to Alzheimer’s disease-related pathology.

Dr. Wade Self is an Instructor in the Department of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He has spent the past decade working with research teams in the academic and industrial setting to translate understanding of the basic neurobiology of disease into disease-modifying treatment strategies for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Alzheimer Disease. Wade’s current work aims to understand mechanisms outside of the central nervous that modify neuroimmune interactions in models of Alzheimer Disease-associated pathologies to discover new therapeutic targets and test innovative approaches for AD treatment and prevention.

Dr. Julie Wisch is a quantitative scientist whose research focuses on modeling disease progression in Alzheimer disease. She holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, where she developed expertise in control theory, mathematics, and state-space modeling, and has applied these tools to neuroimaging and biomarker data at Washington University in St. Louis since 2018. Her work has spanned sporadic, autosomal dominant, and Down syndrome–associated Alzheimer disease, integrating imaging and fluid biomarker data to better understand disease heterogeneity.