Juan Mena Gonzalez, a native of Mexico and current resident of Yuma, does research in neurobiology through the Interdisciplinary UBRP Program, under the guidance of Dr. Shanker Karunanithi. Mena Gonzalez, an electrical engineering major, has been learning how the nervous system works by experimenting with Drosophila larva, a fruit fly commonly used in genetic studies.

" The brain communicates through the nervous system to the body, so the nervous system acts as a wiring system," explains Mena Gonzalez, "the synapse is the point at which the 'wires' connect to the muscle."
Mena Gonzalez has been studying the functional differences between the two kinds of synapses at the neuromuscular junction. He can easily recognize them by their rounded shape and the different sizes but he now needs to establish each synapse's purpose and function.
This research could lead to a better understanding of epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, and other disorders related to the brain and nervous system.

" Interdisciplinary research is the kind of investigation that will lead to new solutions for present and future problems in society, according to Mena Gonzalez, "one discipline can contribute where the other can't, and vice versa."

During the summer of 2007, Mena-Gonzalez will be part of the Exceptional Research Opportunities Program (EXROP), funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). He will build on what he has learned with Dr. Karunanithi in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Axel, an HHMI Investigator at Columbia University in New York.