Dr. Caldwell is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. She is interested in achieving translational outcomes for neurodegenerative diseases. Small molecules that modulate neurodegeneration have been examined in partnership with academic labs exploring cellular mechanism in rodent gene therapy and iPSC models. Moreover, collaborative efforts with biotech and pharmaceutical companies have advanced her findings. Dr. Caldwell is a former recipient of an NSF CAREER Award and a Distinguished Teaching Fellow of the UA College of Arts & Sciences. Her research has been supported by the NSF, NIH, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Dr. Caldwell is currently supported by a research grant and diversity supplement from the NIH. In turn, she supports an adorable and beloved cat. http://wormshack.ua.edu
Representative Publications
- Neurodegenerative VPS41 variants inhibit HOPS function and mTORC1-dependent TFEB/TFE3 regulation. R.E.N. van der Welle, R. Jobling, C. Burns, et al. EMBO Molecular Medicine 13: e13258, 2021.
- A conformational switch driven by phosphorylation regulates the activity of the evolutionarily conserved SNARE Ykt6. K. McGrath, S. Agarwal, M. Tonelli, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 118(12):e2016730118, 2021
- Cyclized NDGA modifies dynamic a-synuclein monomers preventing aggregation and toxicity. M. J. Daniels, J. B. Nourse Jr., H. Kim, et al. Sci Rep 9:2937, 2019.
- Dysregulation of the mitochondrial unfolded protein response induces non-apoptotic dopaminergic neurodegeneration in C. elegans models of Parkinson’s disease. B.A. Martinez, D.A. Petersen, A.L. Gaeta, S.P. Stanley, G.A. Caldwell, K.A. Caldwell. J Neurosci 37:11085-11100, 2017.
- Chemical compensation of mitochondrial phospholipid depletion in yeast and animal models of Parkinson’s disease. S. Wang, S. Zhang, C. Xu, et al. PLoS One 11(10):e0164465, 2016.
Research Interests
Dr. Caldwell investigates the neuronal consequences of proteotoxic stress to identify and characterize cellular mechanisms associated with dopaminergic neurodegeneration and Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Caldwell’s expertise lies within the areas of genetics, genetic and drug screening, behavioral analysis and microscopy, as applied to bioassays for mitochondrial phenotypes, neurodegeneration, and aging. The research subject of her lab is the microscopic nematode, C. elegans, a model system for which a complete genome sequence and neuronal connectome are available. Projects in her lab have provided new insights into the intersection of genetic susceptibility and environmental contributors to neurodegeneration.
