Research Scout Scholar: Joanna Mattis, MD, PhD

Joanna Mattis, M.D., Ph.D. studies epilepsy, specifically how activity deep within the brain could help control the life-changing seizures characteristic of the disease.

“There are fundamental questions that haven't been answered about subcortical regions in epilepsy. What do they do during seizures? And could we harness them as a therapeutic tool in epilepsy? On the other hand, how are these regions chronically modified by seizures?”

After earning her Ph.D. at Stanford University laboratory of Karl Deisseroth, Ph.D., she completed her neurology residency and epilepsy fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. Mattis then came to the University of Michigan, attracted by an established network of epilepsy researchers willing to work together to unlock its mysteries. 

Her Bold Science Idea:

During the brain’s development, each neuron takes on a chemical identity defined by which neurotransmitter it expresses. This chemical identity has historically been thought to be unchanging, but recent work shows that some neurons can dynamically change their neurotransmitter expression. Mattis hypothesized that perhaps neurotransmitter switching could occur in epilepsy, triggered by seizures.

The Mattis Lab is using a technique called stereology to count neurons deep in the brains of mice to see how the neurotransmitter identities of neurons may be altered by seizures, thus resulting in some of the comorbidities of epilepsy such as depression, sleep and cognitive disorders.

Receiving the Research Scout award, she said, has provided her with the activation energy to obtain compelling preliminary data to go after more funding.