On December 8, 2025 we spoke with Dr. Matthew Goodwin about the use of wearable biosensor technology and machine learning to improve behavioral evaluation of autism, to provide real time alerts for caregivers and more effective interventions before the onset of potentially dangerous behavioral situations.

Guest:

Matthew Goodwin, Professor and Associate Chair of Research at the Department of Public Health and Health Sciences and the Khouri College of Computer Sciences, at Northeastern University.

Participating:

Leslie Neeley, Director of the Child and Adolescent Policy Research Institute, and Associate Director of the Brain Health Consortium, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On December 4, 2025 we talked with Dr. Mike Beckstead about his work on changes in dopaminergic neuron excitability in the ventral tegmental area in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease. Mike explained the molecular mechanism of the excitability change and the change in gene expression at its cause.

Guest:

Mike Beckstead, Professor and Hille Family Foundation Chair in Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Aging & Metabolism Research Program Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

Participating:

Matt Wanat, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UTSA

Thanks to James Tepper for original music

On November 20, 2025 we met with Dr. Cristian Lasagna-Reeves to talk about tau protein, its normal function, and what is known about how it aggregates to form the tangles seen in a variety of neurodegenerative brain conditions. We discussed the problem of determining whether the aggregates were causes or effects of the disease process, and whether reducing expression of tau might be an effective treatment.

Guest:

Cristian Lasagna-Reeves, Associate Professor, Dept. of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine

Participating:

George Perry, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Hyoung-gon Lee, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Host:

Charles Wilson, Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, UT San Antonio

Thanks to Jim Tepper for original music