Jeremy Williams

Education:

BS Biology, UW-Madison, Madison, WI, 2016

(Current)  School of Medicine and Public Health, UW-Madison

Research Interests:

Jeremy Williams has worked as a Research Assistant for Dr. Gillian McLellan, participating in a study of vigabatrin.  Vigabatrin is an effective anti-epilepsy agent used to treat infantile spasms. However, it causes a high incidence of adverse effects on vision most likely due to GABA toxicity in the retina. This same GABA toxicity is found in a rare disease called semialdehyde dehydrogenase (SSADH) deficiency, which affects newborns and children. Their goal for the study was to define the ability of rapalog medications to reduce the adverse effects of elevated GABA in the retina and other tissues of mice. Electroretinograms (ERGs), Ocular Coherent Tomography (OCT), and optimotor reflex (OMR) tests are tools and metrics employed to assess the structure and function of the eyes with and without drug administration in their mouse model. If rapalogs decreased the adverse effects of toxic GABA levels, there would be strong evidence that patients taking vigabatrin for seizures as well as patients suffering from SSADH deficiency may benefit from use of rapalog drugs in further clinical studies.