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Background

Melissa Morales joined the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at °®¶¹´«Ã½ in 2020. She received her PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience and completed postdoctoral fellowships in Cellular Neuroscience and Neuromuscular diseases. Morales’ research program is focused on two main areas: 1) studying inflammatory and immune mechanisms that contribute to disease and 2) identifying and testing therapeutics using preclinical models. Her laboratory primarily studies two rare diseases, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and autoimmune myositis. Morales’ lab uses animal models of disease, human patient samples, cell culture, and various molecular and cellular techniques to understand the pathogenesis of disease and perform preclinical drug studies. Other research interests are mitochondrial dysfunction and ER stress contributions to disease. Her research funding includes NIH and several foundation grants.

Education

• PhD, °®¶¹´«Ã½
• MS, °®¶¹´«Ã½
• BA, SUNY College at Cortland

Research Interests

• • Neuromuscular diseases
  • Inflammatory and autoimmune diseases
  • Preclinical drug testing
  • Non-immune contributors to disease