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Researcher

Alfonso Gerardo Garcia

  • Research Expertise:Research focused on neurodegenerative diseases’ using in vivo and in vitro models with specific experience in integration and analyses of large data sets and the interaction of complex systems at genetic, protein and functional level through the use of -omics, advanced microscopical and molecular biology techniques as well as neuronal network analyses.
  • Keywords:NEUROBIOLOGY, SYNAPS, LIVE CELL IMAGING, NEURODEGENERATION, IMAGE ANALYSIS, HUNTINGTON DISEASE, NEUROGENETICS, ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, Pharmacy and pharmacology
  • Disciplines:Biomarker discovery and evaluation, Drug discovery and development, Medicinal chemistry, Medicinal products, Pharmaceutical analysis and quality assurance, Pharmaceutics, Pharmacognosy and phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Pharmacotherapy, Toxicology and toxinology, Other pharmaceutical sciences, Other medical and health sciences
  • Research techniques:Laboratory techniques Basic molecular biology protocols – DNA-RNA extraction, Maxi-Mini preps, PCR, Murine brain dissection, protein extraction, Western Blotting. Immunostaining techniques – Immunohisto(&cyto)chemistry, immunofluorescence, Proximity Ligation Assay. Cell culture techniques –Primary Neuronal cultures (striatal, cortical and hippocampal), standard cell-line cultures maintenance Microscopy techniques – High Throughput Confocal microscopy & Epifluorescence microscopy, Calcium Live Imaging for neuronal activity (extensive experience). Functional animal model assessment – Cognitive tests (T-Maze, NORT, NOLT), Motor tests (Rotarod, Balance Beam), Anxiety tests (Plus-Maze) Animal Model intervention techniques – Stereotaxic surgery, standard histological techniques (perfusion, aseptic surgery techniques, etc.) Computational and Bioinformatics skills Scientific database search – (pubmed, NIH, Thomson Reuters), specialized scientific database: Allen Brain Atlas, Brainspan, Genomic searches in Ensembl, USCS, etc. Batch imaging processing – ImageJ, Imagemagick scripting, CellProfiler (See Publications Miguez et al. 2015), aCapella software (PerkinElmer), Matlab image manipulation scripting, Calcium Live imaging image processing (Signal analyses), wide array of standard Image Software analyses by Leica, Hammamatsu, Olympus, etc. Bioinformatics related to Data Analyses –R programming applied to: Microarray and RNA-seq analyses, (Rsubread, Limma), Weighted Gene Correlation Network Analyses (WGCNA), Monocle analyses of single cell RNA-seq. Visualization tools for genomic and transcriptomic data: Genesis software, gplot in R, IGV Genomic viewer. Gene ontology enrichment analyses. Thomson Reuters’ Metacore ™ Software for genomic network analyses on curated databases, Cytoscape. High-throughput Image data analyses in R and Matlab (Deep coverage microscopy, live Ca++ Imaging, ImageJ) General computational skills –Basic programming experience in C+, Java, Matlab. Batch scripting for Windows and Linux. Top-level user of Windows, advanced user in Linux and MacOs. Computer assembly and repair. Top-level Office suite user (Microsoft, OpenOffice). Advanced user in graphic design software (GIMP, Inkscape, Photoshop)
  • Users of research expertise:Image analyses groups, Advanced Microscopy groups, Data analyses, Neurodegenerative diseases, Huntington's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Molecular Neuroscience, Synapse study groups