Cynthia Kelm-Nelson

Dr. Cynthia Kelm-Nelson’s long-term research goal is to understand the mechanisms that modulate vocal behavior in both health and disease. Her NIH-funded work takes a true systems biology approach, encompassing behavioral, genomic and proteomic analyses to model brain-vocal behavior relationships. Her current NIH-funded research is focused on defining the following gaps in knowledge: (1) the neuroanatomical tracing of the biochemistry of vocalization pathways, (2) the alterations in gene expression within the brain, vocal fold muscle and blood that result in characteristic gene expression signatures, which may constitute early Parkinson’s disease biomarkers, and (3) the identification and repurposing of FDA approved drugs, which have therapeutic effects for vocal communication deficits. The results of this research will ultimately lead to an increased understanding of the onset of behavioral phenotypes, sex differences, neuropathology and substrates of vocal communication deficits in Parkinson’s disease, as well as new targeted drug treatment options.