MD/PhD Student
Baylor College of Medicine
Colleen Strohlein is an MD/PhD candidate in Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine, where her doctoral research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease in the laboratories of Dr. Josh Shulman and Dr. Huda Zoghbi. She earned her BS in Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh before beginning her physician-scientist training. Her graduate work is supported by an F30 Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and a McNair MD/PhD Scholarship.
Alongside her doctoral training, Colleen remains actively engaged in clinical research in otolaryngology through the medical school. Her current projects span hearing loss outcomes and screening practices in pediatric patients following bacterial meningitis, which is the focus of her presentation at this conference, as well as the effects of obstructive sleep apnea on behavior in children with autism and the geographic mapping of microplastics in pediatric tonsillar tissue.
Her research interests center on hearing loss and the preservation of cochlear hair cells, and she hopes to contribute to this field as she pursues a career as a physician-scientist bridging neuroscience and otolaryngology.