Michelle Healy Stoffel

M.D. / Ph.D. Student - Apte Lab
B.S. in Biological Sciences, University of Northern Iowa, 2006

My interest in both geriatrics and pharmacology was sparked by working at a family-operated pharmacy in my hometown of Muscatine, IA, between finishing by undergraduate degree and applying to medical school. I saw, first-hand, both the positive and negative sides of modern polypharmacy, and the incredible difference that conscientious health care providers can make when working together as a team to give the best possible care to the patient. I am pursuing an MD/PhD because I am motivated by personally working to help improve therapeutic interventions through basic and clinical research, and being able to interact with patients to see them enjoy the benefits of new treatments as they are discovered and improved.

Research Interests

As a graduate student in Dr. Beth Levant's lab, I study the effects of dietary intake of fatty acids on factors implicated in Parkinson's disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopamine-producing neurons. Our lab focuses on the polyunsaturated fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). DHA, the most abundant omega-3 fatty acid in the brain, is found in dietary sources like salmon and walnuts. The amount of DHA in the brain is reflected by amounts consumed in the diet, and we use this ability to manipulate brain DHA content in order to study its effects on behavior and neurochemistry in a rat model of Parkinson's. I am also currently a graduate fellow at the Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation (IAMI), with my graduate project focusing on a potential biomarker for Parkinson's arising from the detection of dopamine-fatty acid adducts. 

My long-range career goals are to work as an active physician/researcher in a geriatric specialty of neurology or oncology, where I also plan to be involved in the innovative process of bringing new treatments to medical practice using the background gained in pharmacology and translational research through my graduate training and fellowship experience here at KU Medical Center.