Getting to Know...Tim Mhyre

June 17, 2008

A native of Washington state, assistant professor Tim Mhyre is one of GUMC's latest additions to the Department of Neuroscience. Mhyre arrived to the Hilltop this past fall from the University of Rochester, where he was working on a study to look for potential biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease. After receiving a grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue some of that research at GUMC, Mhyre began preparing his lab and hopes to be in full-swing by this fall. Mhyre talked with me about his research and his new life in the District of Columbia.  

Tell me about what you're working on.

Basically, what we want to do is, under the rubric of biomolecular profiling, collect blood samples from people who are either at low risk for developing Alzheimer's or at a high-risk for developing it. And we collect the samples as well as clinical data such as neuropsychological testing on these people, for a number of years, and we hope to get to a point where we can look at their different proteins or RNAs, and come up with a profile for those who will or won't progress with the disease.

Although we're in early stages, this research will provide us a lot of information regarding whether or not looking at the blood can be an appropriate measure to determine whether or not someone has a central nervous system disease, a neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer's or Parkinson’s.

So what does your research mean to someone who has or might develop a disease like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's?

We hope we can eventually develop technologies and tools that will allow us to not only diagnose Alzheimer's in the early stages but also monitor its progression. It's related to the idea of personalized medicine. Maybe it will be 20 or 30 years before you develop Alzheimer's, but you go to your doctor and get a test that comes up with a profile of you that you may develop Alzheimer's. And then that will allow the phsycian and the patient to develop a personalized way of dealing with the disease.

Why did you become interested in neuroscience?

First of all, it’s a relatively new field when you think about other aspects of biology. I think the complexity of it is naturally interesting because we don’t know so much about what goes on both in how the brain normally works and how the brain develops these disease, be they neurodegenerative diseases or other diseases. It’s a science that lets you do so many different things, like clinical science, or basic, or this kind of translational field. I think that’s what's really exciting now, as we really try to push the frontiers of how the brain works, how the brain gets sick, and how to really alleviate those chronic conditions such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer's disease.

You moved here from the University of Rochester this past fall. How has your transition to Georgetown been?

I like the University. It's very collegial, and our department is very friendly. It's close-knit.

So when you're not working in the lab what do you like to do?

I've had a lot of friends and family visit from up north. I like to read. I like to travel and spend time with friends and family when I get the chance.



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