Moriah Arnold

  • Current Program Year: Grad 3
  • Current Student, Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine
  • M.D./Ph.D. Program Students, School of Medicine
  • Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences Students, School of Medicine

Biography

I graduated from Carleton College in 2017 with a major in Biology and minors in Neuroscience and Biochemistry. After working at OHSU as a research assistant for 2 years, I matriculated into the OHSU MD/PhD program in 2019. I transitioned from medical school to my PhD in 2021 and joined the Unni Lab where my dissertation project is to investigate the role of alpha-synuclein in melanoma. Although alpha-synuclein is well-recognized to aggregate in neurological disorders like Parkinson’s Disease, it is also highly expressed by melanoma cells for unclear reasons. Interestingly, patients with Parkinson’s Disease and their first-degree relatives are at increased risk of developing melanoma and melanoma patients are at increased risk of Parkinson’s Disease. I hypothesize that melanoma upregulates alpha-synuclein expression to improve DNA repair function and this contributes to protected melanoma growth and metastasis. I hope to match into a research-focused neurology residency program when I graduate from the MD/PhD program in 2027. Outside of science, I enjoy exploring restaurants in Portland, training at my boxing gym, going to Portland Thorns games, and hiking with my partner and dog.

Research interests: Molecular neuroscience, neurodegenerative disease, neurology

Clinical interests: Neurology

Education and training

    • B.A., 2017, Carleton College

Memberships and associations:

  • Society for Neuroscience
  • American Medical Association
  • American Physician Scientists Association
  • American Academy of Neurology
  • Oregon Medical Association
  • International Behavioral Neuroscience Society
  • American Medical Women's Association
  • The Society of Behavioral Neuroendocrinology

Honors and awards

  • Knight Cancer Institute PhD Scholar Award, 2021-Present
  • OHSU Neurology Department Research Day, Best Overall Oral Presentation, 2021
  • Sigma Xi, National Honors Society for Academic Excellence in Scientific Research, 2017-Present
  • Carleton College Woodside Fund for Career Exploration, 2016

Publications

Selected publications

  • Ilsa T. Kirby, Ana Kojic and Moriah R. Arnold, Ann-Gerd Thorsell, Tobias Karlberg, Anke Vermehren-Schmaedick, Raashi Sreenivasan, Carsten Schultz, Herwig Schuler, and Michael S. Cohen* (2018). A potent and selective PARP11 inhibitor suggests coupling between protein stability and catalytic activity. Cell Chemical Biology.
  • Moriah R. Arnold, Claire L. Thallon, Joshua A. Pitkofsky, Sarah H. Meerts* (2018). Sexual Experience Confers Resilience to Restraint Stress in Female Rats. Hormones and Behavior.
  • Brittany L. Forte, Lauren M. Slosky, Hong Zhang, Moriah R. Arnold, William D. Staatz, Merideth Hay, Tally M. Largent-Milnes, Todd W. Vanderah* (2016). Angiotensin-(1-7) as an Antinociceptive Agent in Cancer-Induced Bone Pain. Pain
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/moriah.arnold.1/bibliography/public/

Publications

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