As a first-year teacher, Sarah Latchney was excited to introduce students to the complexity of the human brain through her BIOL 419: Neurobiology with Laboratory course. But when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, the St. Mary’s College of Maryland professor faced one tiny problem: 

The lab was closed.  

“All of a sudden I was stuck online and didn’t know what to do,” Latchney recalled. 

Milner’s interest in Alzheimer’s was personal: The year she was born, her maternal great-grandmother died of the disease. Milner’s grandmother rarely spoke about it, but her experiences caring for her mother during her long decline left a lasting impact.

“Toward the end of her life, (my grandmother) was kind of bogged down with the fact that she might have Alzheimer’s disease,” Milner said. “She tricked herself into believing that she was losing her mind, even though we knew that she was fine.”

Latchney knew she couldn’t offer a wet lab experience to Milner. But tools like the Seattle Alzheimer’s Disease Brain Cell Atlas (SEA-AD) and the Allen Brain Cell Atlas could offer a window into the disease.  

Initially interested in human neuroscience research, Milner found herself drawn to cellular and molecular studies through the Allen Institute’s databases. 

“At first I was daunted, because I don’t consider myself very tech savvy,” she said. “But soon I was learning how genetic research is done within the wet lab, and how it’s able to be reproduced within these databases.” 

For her capstone project, Milner explored the complex world of gene expression in Alzheimer’s disease. Using the Allen Institute tools and the NIH Clinical Trials database, she focused on two genes associated with the NMDA receptor, a protein in the brain crucial for learning and memory. She was surprised to discover significant differences in how these genes were expressed in early versus late stages of the disease—a finding that hints at more targeted therapies, she said.  

“Diving deeper into how genes could be used for Alzheimer’s treatment could provide better avenues for individuals with the disease,” she said.     

Today, Milner is working as a laboratory technician at Virginia Tech, studying the cellular mechanisms that link Parkinson’s disease and traumatic brain injury. Her journey to the wet lab began with open science resources, demonstrating the transformative potential of these tools in research and education.  

“I think what I took away from using the (Institute’s) databases is that learning looks completely different for different people,” she says. “You’re able to explore and broaden your perspective of what research could be by using these sorts of databases.” 

Her former professor echoed the sentiment.  

“Julia’s experience with the Allen Institute’s resources shows how valuable open science and collaborative science is,” Latchney said. “When you bring together different types of scientists, you get different perspectives that can lead to new ideas. Think how far we could get into discovering new disease-modifying treatments if we would share our data more, and be more open and collaborative.”