- Honors B.S. Neuroscience & Psychology, The Ohio State University, 2016
- M.S. Physiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 2020
My PhD research focuses on adenosine to inosine (A-I) RNA editing, an essential post-transcriptional process in the brain, goes awry in neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). In particular, my research aims to understand how RNA editing can alter the nucleocytoplasmic trafficking and subsequent dysfunction of RNA binding proteins such as TDP-43 in sporadic and C9orf72-associated ALS/FTD, and how altering A-I RNA editing can model multiple neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders in human iPSC-derived cortical neurons, motor neurons, and glial cells.
I attended The Ohio State University for my bachelor's degree as a double major in Neuroscience and Psychology, and received a Master's in Physiology from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. During my undergraduate degree, I conducted research on stress-induced changes to dopaminergic neural circuitry and the neuroimmune system during pregnancy. Following graduation, I worked in the lab of Jaime Imitola, MD (now Vice Chair of Neurology Research at UConn Health) where I found my passion in pursuing translational research as we worked together to study neuroimmune signaling in cerebral organoids and saw patients with multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative conditions in the clinic. I also spent time in clinical research at Nationwide Children's Hospital with the neuromuscular team, which solidified my desire to pursue an MD/PhD and neurology after seeing the impact that physician-scientists were making with gene therapies for children born with deadly conditions like spinal muscular atrophy. Following this, I worked as a senior research associate and lab manager in the lab of Mark Hester, PhD, at the Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children's Hospital where we used cerebral organoids to study neurodevelopmental conditions and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.
Now as an MD/PhD student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix, I am using human cellular and iPSC models of neurodegeneration to study RNA editing and glial cells in neurodegenerative disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; Sattler Lab, Barrow Neurological Institute) and I am also performing clinical research diving into gene discovery in pediatric movement disorders (Kruer Lab, Phoenix Children's Hospital, UACOM-Phoenix). I hope to pursue residency in pediatric neurology to become a physician-scientist specializing in the research and care of children and adults with neurodegenerative diseases.
When I'm not studying or in the lab, I can be found spending time with my wonderful wife and our German Shepherd doing our favorite things: trail running the mountain ranges of Phoenix, hiking and rock climbing in Sedona/Flagstaff, cycling, training for triathlons, and cooking vegan food.
Please feel free to reach out via email with any questions about the MD/PhD path, the Phoenix program, or anything else!
- Eclipse Biosciences RBP-eCLIP Matching Fund Award 2023
- American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Futures in Neurologic Research Scholarship 2023
- Child Neurology Foundation Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (NDD) Summer Research Scholarship 2022
- Graduation with Honors in the Arts & Sciences 2016
- Graduation with Honors Research Distinction in Neuroscience 2016
- Resident Advisor of the Month, NRHH at OSU 2016
- 1st Place, Denman Undergraduate Research Forum 2016
- 2nd Place, Invited Oral Symposium, mGluRs Conference 2015
- Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship 2015
- Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Scholarship 2015
- Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Grant 2015
- Dean’s List, The Ohio State University 2014-2016
Ingram DA, Turkes E, Kim TY, Vo S, Sweeney N, Bonte MA, Rutherford R, Julian DL, Pan M, Marsh J, Argouarch AR, Wu M, Scharre DW, Bell EH, Honig L, Vonsattel JP, Serrano G, Beach T, Karch CM, Kao A, Hester ME, Han X, Fu H. (2025) GRAMD1B is a regulator of lipid homeostasis, autophagic flux and phosphorylated tau. Nature Communications. 2025, 16(1), p.1-24 https://doi.org/10.1089/crispr.2024.0079
Guo G, Moser M, Chifamba L, Julian D, Teierle S, Rajappa P, Miller C, Hester ME. (2025). CRISPR-Cas9-Mediated Correction of TSC2 Pathogenic Variants in iPSCs from Patients with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Type 2. The CRISPR Journal. 2025, 8(1), p.60-70 https://doi.org/10.1089/crispr.2024.0079
Fair SR, Schwind W, Julian DL, Biel A, Ramadesikan S, Westfall J, Miller KE, Kararoudi MN, Hickey SE, Mosher TM, McBride KL, Neinast R, Fitch J, Lee D, White P, Wilson RK, Bedrosian TA, Koboldt DC, Hester ME. (2023). Cerebral organoids containing an AUTS2 missense variant model microcephaly. Brain. 2023, 146(1), p. 387-404 https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awac244
Chen S, Chang Y, Li L, Acosta D, Li Y, Guo Q, Wang C, Turkes E, Morrison C, Julian D, Hester ME, Scharre DW, Santiskulvong C, Song SX, Plummer JT, Serrano GE, Beach TG, Duff KE, Ma Q, Fu H. Spatially resolved transcriptomics reveals genes associated with the vulnerability of middle temporal gyrus in Alzheimer’s disease. Acta Neuropathologica Communications. 2022 Dec;10(1):1-24. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40478-022-01494-6
Fair SR, Schwind W, Julian D, Biel A, Ramadesikan S, Westfall J, Miller KE, Kararoudi MN, Hickey SE, Mosher TM, McBride KL, Neinast R, Fitch J, Lee D, White P, Wilson RK, Bedrosian TA, Koboldt DC, Hester ME. (2022) Cerebral Organoids Containing an AUTS2 Missense Variant Model Microcephaly. MedRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.02.23.22271091
Fair SR*, Julian D*, Hartlaub AM, Pusuluri ST, Malik G, Summerfield TL, Zhao G, Hester AB, Ackerman IV WE, Hollingsworth EW, Ali M, McElroy CA, Buhimschi IA, Imitola J, Maitre NL, Bedrosian TA, Hester ME. (2020) Electrophysiological maturation of cerebral organoids correlates with dynamic morphological and cellular development. Stem Cell Rep. 15 (4), 855-868. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2020.08.017 *indicates co-first authorship
Julian D, Hollingsworth EW, Julian K, Imitola J (2019) Convergence of human cellular models and genetics to study neural stem cell signaling to enhance CNS regeneration and repair. Sem Cell Dev Bio. 95, 84-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2019.07.002
Haim A, Julian D, Albin-Brooks C, Brothers HM, Lenz KM, Leuner B (2017) A survey of neuroimmune changes in pregnant and postpartum female rats. Brain Behav Immun. 59: 67-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2016.09.026