Rachel Dick

Pronouns: she/her

E-MAIL:  [email protected]

Undergraduate Institution and Major:

University of Virginia, B.A. in Neuroscience, Spanish, 2018

Graduate Advisor

Patrick Rothwell, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience

Graduate Research:

My research investigates the effects of NMDA receptor ablation upon synapses in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Decreased expression and function of NMDA receptors in the mPFC is a biomarker of schizophrenia in some patients and may be linked to decreased working memory, which is one of the cognitive symptoms of the disease. The goal of my project is to understand how this risk factor affects the strength and density of synaptic connections in the mPFC using patch clamp electrophysiology, confocal imaging, and computational modeling.

Graduate Publications

• Trieu BH, Remmers BC, Toddes C, Brandner DD, Lefevre EM, Kocharian A, Retzlaff CL, Dick RM, Mashal MA, Gauthier EA, Xie W, Zhang Y, More SS, Rothwell PE. Angiotensin-converting enzyme gates brain circuit-specific plasticity via an endogenous opioid. Science. 2022;375(6585):1177-1182. DOI: 10.1126/science.abl5130

Graduate Presentations

• Functional, structural, and computational consequences of NMDA receptor ablation at medial prefrontal cortex synapses. Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Washington, DC. November 2023. 
• Functional, structural, and computational consequences of NMDA receptor ablation at medial prefrontal cortex synapses. Graduate Program in Neuroscience Annual Retreat, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. March 2023. 
• Functional, structural, and computational consequences of NMDA receptor ablation at medial prefrontal cortex synapses. Institute for Translational Neuroscience Brain Conditions Retreat, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. January 2023. 
• Disrupted excitatory-inhibitory balance in schizophrenia. Student keynote speaker, NIH T32 Symposium: Using Computation to Achieve Breakthroughs in Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. April 2022.
• Disruption of medial prefrontal cortical circuits in psychosis. Graduate Program in Neuroscience Annual Retreat, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. January 2022.

Graduate Awards/Honors

NIMH Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award, 2023 – 2025. Functional, structural, and computational consequences of NMDA receptor ablation at medial prefrontal cortex synapses.

GPN Committees

GPN Steering Committee, June 2022-June 2024.
GPN Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, July 2021 to present. 
Mentorship Committee, July 2021-July 2023

Thesis Committee

Matthew Chafee, PhD, University of Minnesota Department of Neuroscience (chair) 
Audrey Sederberg, PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology School of Psychology and School of Physics 
Nicola Grissom, PhD, University of Minnesota Department of Psychology

Rotations

Julia Lemos, PhD, Department of Neuroscience 
Alik Widge, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Services 
Stanley Thayer, PhD, Department of Pharmacology

Undergraduate Research

As an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, I spent three years in the Social Neuroscience Laboratory led by Dr. James Morris studying how social support regulates stress and mitigates negative emotions. I published a senior honors thesis using EEG to measure neural correlates of social emotion regulation. During my two year posbac at the National Institute of Mental Health in Dr. Robert Innis's lab, I contributed to preclinical and clinical evaluation of novel radioligands for PET imaging. My research focused on the GluN2B subunit of NMDA receptors and PDE4D, which is involved in cAMP signaling, as well as novel chemogenetic ligands.

Undergraduate Publications

• Siméon FG, Lee JH, Morse CL, Stukes I, Zoghbi SS, Manly LS, Liow JS, Gladding RL, Dick RM, Yan X, Taliani S, Costa B, Martini C, Da Settimo F, Castellano S, Innis RB, Pike VW. Synthesis and screening in mice of fluorine-containing PET radioligands for TSPO: discovery of a promising 18F-labeled ligand. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 2021;64(22):16731-16745. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01562 
• Yan X, Telu S, Dick RM, Liow JS, Zanotti-Fregonara P, Morse CL, Manly LS, Gladding RL, Shrestha S, Lerchner W, Nagai Y, Minamimoto T, Zoghbi SS, Innis RB, Pike VW, Richmond BJ, Eldridge MA. [11C]Deschloroclozapine is an improved PET radioligand for quantifying a human muscarinic DREADD expressed in monkey brain. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. 2021;41(10):2571-2582. DOI: 10.1177/0271678X211007949 
• Wakabayashi Y, Telu S, Dick RM, Fujita M, Ooms M, Morse CL, Liow JS, Hong JS, Gladding RL, Manly LS, Zoghbi SS, Mo X, D'Amato EC, Sindac JA, Nugent RA, Marron BE, Gurney ME, Innis RB, Pike VW. Discovery, radiolabeling, and evaluation of subtype-selective inhibitors for positron emission tomography imaging of brain phosphodiesterase-4D. ACS Chemical Neuroscience. 2020;11(9):1311-1323. DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.0c00077 
• Dick RM. Lean on me: An investigation of individual differences in social regulation of emotion. The Oculus: The Virginia Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2019;17:16-31.

Why did you choose Minnesota?

Minnesota offers the perfect combination of cutting-edge research with great faculty, a supportive and engaged student body, and an affordable, fun city environment. I immediately felt at home here after meeting the students and connecting with several enthusiastic faculty members, and was excited to live in a city renowned for its parks, art museums, and bakeries.

Best advice from a graduate mentor?

Several people advised me to choose a lab based on the mentorship fit over the science, which was excellent guidance. I've been very fortunate to benefit from Patrick and Audrey's mentoring during my PhD.