Year of Graduation: 2016
Research Lab: Dr. Alexander Arnold
Major Area of Focus: Biochemistry
Minor Area of Focus: High-Throughput Screening

Thesis: Development of Cellular High Throughput Assays to Determine the Electrophysiological Profile of GABA(A) Receptor Modulators for Neurology and Immunology

Previously Attended

University of Milwaukee 2006-2010, Ajou University-South Korea 2011

Why I like Chemistry

Chemistry is an astounding and fascinating subject. It's the science of substance and matter. Biochemistry is of particular interest to me. Consider the chemistry that created you. Millions and millions of atoms which, in one rare and singular confirmation, came together to form you. However, in a more statistically prominent confirmation, those same atoms would amount to nothing more than a mound of fine atomic dust.

Why I chose the Chemistry and Biochemistry Program at UW-Milwaukee

The faculty, staff and other graduate students at UWM are very supportive. I've received a lot of encouragement and backing from my research adviser, Dr. Arnold, in particular.

Favorite things to do in Milwaukee

Be awesome.

There's great biking trails, park systems, urban kayaking, and stuff to stay active in the city. Also, going to restaurants, brewery tours, concerts, shows, festivals, museum events, gallery showings, etc.

Research Goals

To make a significant contribution to the science community.

Publications

1. Gloria S. Forkuo, Amanda N. Nieman, Nina Y. Yuan, Revathi Kodali, Olivia B. Yu, Nicolas M. Zahn, Rajwana Jahan, Guanguan Li, Michael Rajesh Stephen, Margaret L. Guthrie, Michael M. Poe, Benjamin D. Hartzler, Ted W. Harris, Gene T. Yocum, Charles W. Emala, Douglas A. Steeber, Douglas C. Stafford, James M. Cook and Leggy A. Arnold “Alleviation of Multiple Asthmatic Pathologic Features with Orally Available and Subtype Selective GABAA Receptor Modulators” Molecular Pharmaceutics 2017. 14, 2088-2098.
2. Rajwana Jahan, Michael R. Stephen, Gloria S. Forkuo, Revathi Kodali, Margaret L. Guthrie, Amanda N. Nieman, Nina Y. Yuan, Nicolas M. Zahn, Michael M. Poe, Guanguan Li, Olivia B. Yu, Gene T. Yocum, Charles W. Emala, Douglas C. Stafford, James M. Cook, and Leggy A. Arnold "Optimization of Substituted Imidazobenzodiazepines as Novel Asthma Treatments" European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2017, 126, 550-560.
3. Nina Y. Yuan, Michael M. Poe, Christopher Witzigmann, James M. Cook, Douglas C. Stafford, Leggy A. Arnold “Characterization of GABA_A receptor ligands with automated patch-clamp using human neurons derived from pluripotent stem cells” Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 2016, 82, 109-114.
4. Gloria S. Forkuo, Margaret L. Guthrie, Nina Y. Yuan, Amanda N. Nieman, Revathi Kodali, Rajwana Jahan, Michael R. Stephen, Gene T. Yocum, Marco Treven, Michael M. Poe, Guanguan Li, Olivia B. Yu, Benjamin D. Hartzler, Nicolas M. Zahn, Margot Ernst, Charles W. Emala, Douglas C. Stafford, James M. Cook, and Leggy A. Arnold “Development of GABA(A) Receptor Subtype-Selective Imidazobenzodiazepines as Novel Asthma treatments” Molecular Pharmaceutics 2016, 13, 2026-2038.
5. Margaret L Guthrie, Preetpal S. Sidhu, Emily K. Hill, Timothy C. Horan, Premchendar Nandhikonda, Kelly A. Teske, Nina Y. Yuan, Marino Sidorko, Revathi Kodali, James M. Cook, Lanlan Han, Nicholas R. Silvaggi, Daniel D. Bikle, Richard G. Moore, Rakesh K. Singh, and Leggy A. Arnold “Antitumor activity of 3-Indolylmethanamines 31B and PS121912” Anticancer Research 2015, 35(11), 6001-6007.
6. Anticancer Activity of VDR-coregulator inhibitor PS121912 Sidhu, P. S.; Teske, K.; Feleke, B.; Yuan, N. Y.; Guthrie, M. L.; Fernstrum, G. B.; Vyas, N. D.; Han, L.; Preston, J.; Bogart, J. W.; Silvaggi, N. R.; Cook, J. M.; Singh, R. K.; Bikle, D. D.; Arnold, L. A.,. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 2014.
7. Identification of VDR Antagonists Among Nuclear Receptor Ligands Using Virtual Screening. Teske, K.; Nanhikonda, P.; Bogart, J. W.; Feleke, B.; Sidhu, P.; Yuan, N. Y.; Preston, J.; Goy, R.; Han, L.; Silvaggi, N. R.; Singh, R. K.; Bikle, D. D.; Cook, J. M.; Arnold, L. A., Nuclear Receptor Research 2014, 1, 1-8.
8. Modulation of Transcription Mediated by the Vitamin D Receptor and the Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor δ. Teske, K.; Nandhikonda, P.; Bogart, J. W.; Feleke, B.; Sidhu, P.; Yuan, N.Y.; Preston, J.; Goy, R.; Arnold, L. A.,. Biomolecular Research & Therapeutics 2014, 3 (1).
9. Development of Novel Vitamin D Receptor-Coactivator Inhibitors. Sidhu, P. S.; Nassif, N.; McCallum, M. M.; Teske, K.; Feleke, B. D.; Yuan, N. Y.; Nandhikonda, P.; Cook, J. M.; Singh, R. K.; Bikle, D. D.; Arnold, L. A., ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters 2014, 5 (2), 199-204.
10. Peroxisome Proliferation- Activated Receptor Agonist GW0742 Interacts Weakly with Multiple Nuclear Receptors, Including the Vitamin D Receptor. Nandhikonda, P.; Yasgar, A.; Baranowski, A.; Sidhu, P. S.; McCallum, M. M.; Pawlak, A. J.; Teske, K.; Feleke, B.; Yuan, N. Y.; Kevin, C.; Bikle, D. D.; Ayers, S. D.; Webb, P.; Rai, G.; Simeonov, A.; Jadhav, A.; Maloney, D.; Arnold, L. A., Biochemistry 2013, 52, 4193-4203.
11. Comparison of cell expression formats for the characterization of GABA(A) channels using a microfluidic patch clamp system. Qin Chen, Peter D. Yim, Nina Yuan, Juliette Johnson, James M Cook, Steve Smith, Cristian Ionescu-Zanetti, Zhi-Jian Wang, Leggy A. Arnold, Charles W. Emala. Assay Drug Dev Technol, 2012. 10(4): p. 325-35.
12. Discovery of the First Irreversible Small Molecule Inhibitors of the Interaction between the Vitamin D Receptor and Coactivators. Premchendar Nandhikonda, Wen Z. Lynt, Megan M. McCallum, Tahniyath Ara, Athena M. Baranowski, Nina Y. Yuan, Dana Pearson, Daniel D. Bikle, R. Kiplin Guy, Leggy A. Arnold. J. Med. Chem. 2012, 55, 4640-51.
13. Transiently Transfected Cell Lines for GABA Receptor Screening. Nina Yuan. Application Note Fluxion Biosciences, 2011.

Poster Presentations

Development of High-Throughput Assays to Identify New Alpha Subtype-Selective GABAA Receptor Modulators to Treat Anxiety and Depression Disorders, Gordon Research Conference: Ion Channels (GRS), Oral Presentation, July 2014.

Development of High-Throughput Assays to Identify New Alpha Subtype-Selective GABAA Receptor Modulators to Treat Anxiety and Depression Disorders, Gordon Research Conference: Ion Channels (GRC), Poster Presentation, July 2014.

Development of High-Throughput Assays to Identify New Alpha Subtype-Selective GABAA Receptor Modulators to Treat Anxiety and Depression Disorders, Gordon Research Conference: Ion Channels (GRS), Poster Presentation, July 2014

Automated Patch Clamp: High-Throughput Electrophysiological Assay for Neuropharmacology Research in Mammalian Cells, UWM Neuroscience Workshop, Oral Presentation, July 2014.

Development of High-Throughput Assays to Identify New Alpha Subtype-Selective GABAA Receptor Modulators to Treat Anxiety and Depression Disorders, UWM Chemistry and Biochemistry Research Symposium, Poster presentation, April 2014.

Identifying New Treatments for the Brain: Electophysiological Assay and Generation of a Stable Recombinant Cell Line, Yao Yuan Biotech/Pharma International Symposium, Poster presentation, April 2013.

Identifying New Treatments for the Brain: Anxiolytic Neurochemistry and Electrophysiology, UWM Chemistry and Biochemistry Research Symposium, Poster presentation, April 2013. Winner of 1st place presentation Keith Hall Award for Excellence in Graduate Research.

Uppers, Downers, All Arounders: Identifying New Treatments for the Human Brain, UWM Chemistry and Biochemistry Research Symposium and Recruiting, Oral presentation, April 2013.

Benzodiazepine Specificity of GABAA Receptor Subtypes: High-Throughput Electrophysiological Assay with Transiently Transfected Cells, ACS 243rd National Meeting, San Diego, CA, Poster presentation, March 24-30, 2012.

Benzodiazpine Specificity of GABAA Receptor Subtypes, UWM Chemistry and Biochemistry Research Symposium, Poster presentation, Spring 2011.

Awards

Gordon Research Travel Award (2014)

Mentorship Travel Award (2014)

Keith Hall Award (2013)

Society of Applied Spectroscopy Travel Award (2012)

UWM Graduate Student Travel Award (2012)

SURF Poster Award (2011)

SURF Research Funding (2010-2011)