Dr. Schreck is pictured in green, Angelica third from right, Dr. Kossoff at far right, with other members of the MINDS
Since graduation in May, alumna Angelica Lackey (Biochem ’18) has been working with the Metabolism in Neurologic Diseases (MINDs) group at Johns Hopkins. Comprised of specialists from pediatric and adult neurology, this “meeting of the MINDS” convenes to discuss the current and potential use of metabolic therapy for improving patient outcomes. The members of this team are world-renowned experts in clinical applications of dietary therapy for neurologic disease and use of ketogenic diets variants (e.g. classical ketogenic diet, modified Atkins diet (MAD)) especially in managing and treating refractory epilepsies. Growing interest in the adjuvant therapy is indicated as clinical trials are being conducted for brain cancers, multiple sclerosis, and psychiatric disorders. Angelica is working with her capstone mentor, Dr. Kossoff, and another member of the group, Dr. Schreck has been helping Angelica and Dr. Rebecca Burgess of the biology department work through their research started last year on the effects of the ketogenic diet on glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. Angelica presented her research from Stevenson to the group, and will be presenting again in September.