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Neurobiologist Rhonda McFleder has been doubly rewarded for her inquisitive nature: she was offered a junior professorship at Würzburg University Hospital and invited to the Lindau Nobel Laureate Conference.
Würzburg. Why. That is Rhonda McFleder's favourite word. The neurobiologist has been curious about the unknown and asking questions since she was a child. That's why she loves her job at the University Hospital of Würzburg, where she researches the role of the immune system in Parkinson's disease. Even if an application or a manuscript is rejected or her experiments don't succeed, she never tires of asking "why" and tries to learn from the answers. In doing so, the 33-year-old has come a long way with the support of her husband and two young daughters: she has just been awarded a tenure-track professorship in Translational Medicine at the Julius Maximilians University. After a successful probationary period, this professorship, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), becomes a tenured professorship. Further up the career ladder, however, Rhonda’s questions don't let up. This past June, the US-born scientist had the unique opportunity to pose some of her questions to the world's brightest minds at the 72nd Lindau Nobel Laureate Conference at Lake Constance.
Inspiration and ideas at the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting
"It was incredible there, so open and inspiring. There were about 600 young scientists from 89 countries and for almost a week we had many opportunities to connect with each other as well as the forty or so Nobel laureates who were there," she exclaims. "At one dinner I sat right next to Morten Meldal, who won the Nobel Prize for his Click Chemistry. It was great. I was able to talk to him and his wife, who is also a chemist, about family and a science career," beams Rhonda McFleder. Rhonda could gain more professional advice during her Science Walk with biologist Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for her research on the genetic control of early embryonic development. "She introduced me to special management training for scientists and to her foundation, which gives talented young female scientists with children the freedom and mobility they need to pursue a career," explains Rhonda McFleder, adding. "We are well trained in our education to be a doctor or a scientist, but no one shows us how to run a lab and simultaneously write papers and proposals, take care of students and be there for the family." She says she received some valuable tips from Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard that took away some of the fear she admittedly had before becoming a junior professor.
The smartphone as a screening tool for diseases
She was particularly inspired by the computer scientist Shwetak Patel, who gave the Heidelberg Lecture. Since there is no Nobel Prize for mathematics or computer science, various prizes and forums such as the Heidelberg Laureate Forum are trying to close this gap. Patel is developing new sensors and AI techniques to use smartphones for health screenings and self-management. For example, anemia can be measured with a mobile phone camera using an App created by Patel. In Peru, where anemia is widespread, thousands of children could be tested within three weeks thanks to this freely available app. "That's incredible," Rhonda McFleder emphasizes. And the phone's microphone can be used to test lung function. It is the selflessness that fascinates Rhonda McFleder the most. Patel is not in it for the money, he simply wants to help people by making medicine and technology accessible to everyone. His advice: "In everything we develop, we should always ask ourselves if we are creating a larger global health disparity. If so, we should go back to the lab and revamp our technologies so that everyone can have equal access.
Immune cells could be key to understanding the development of Parkinson's disease
Rhonda also hopes that her research will one day benefit as many people as possible. For example, her recent work suggests that certain immune cells influence the progression of Parkinson's and that there is a special immune connection between the brain and the gut. "We know that people with inflammatory bowel disease have a higher risk of Parkinson's, and those who have had an appendectomy, meaning they no longer have an appendix, have a lower risk. But why is that? Why are problems in the gut also present in other neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis or depression?" asks Rhonda McFleder. She is looking for answers by trying to identify the cells involved in the communication and develop therapeutics that target these cells and hopefully stop disease progression.
Treatment options for neurological diseases with intestinal involvement
She has now been awarded a junior professorship for her translational research. On the one hand, she hopes for better and earlier diagnostics. "It would be cool, for example, if one day we could test for Parkinson's from a stool sample," she says. On the other hand, she aspires to target the immune cells involved in the Brain-Gut communication not only as a treatment option for Parkinson's disease, but also for other neurological diseases.
But it's not just about new diagnostics and treatment options, Rhonda McFleder also wants to use her research to improve existing treatments. "As part of the SFB's ReTune project, I am currently looking for ways to optimize the neuroprotective effect of deep brain stimulation," she explains proudly.
What motivates her day after day: that the answers to her many questions lead to better treatment options for people with neurological diseases.
About Rhonda McFleder
Prof. Dr. Rhonda McFleder was born in 1990 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA. She studied biology at the University of North Carolina and medicine at the University of Massachusetts and received her doctorate in neurobiology. During her practical year in medical school, she interned at various hospitals and research institutions, including the University Hospital of Würzburg. During her internship, she was impressed by the Neurological Clinic and Polyclinic at the UKW with its broad spectrum of clinical topics and the large number of patients presenting with various clinical pictures. What ultimately convinced her to join the UKW team was the clear passion for research held by the clinic director Prof. Dr. Jens Volkmann and Prof. Dr. Chi Wang Ip. The Neurology Clinic, which has made a name for itself as an international reference center for deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders, seemed like the perfect place for her to combine her medical and scientific background to help patients. She started as a postdoc in Prof. Chi Wang Ip's research group and was awarded a Humboldt Research Fellowship in November 2020. The junior professorship followed two and a half years later.
https://www.ukw.de/fileadmin/uk/Forschung/WomenInScience/McFleder/WomenInScience... , a portrait of Rhonda McFleder in #WomenInScience series
Rhonda McFleder conducts research on Parkinson's disease in neurology at UKW and was awarded the Jun ...
Kirstin Linkamp
Kirstin Linkamp / UKW
Rhonda McFleder (left) and her collaborator, PhD student Mansi Yellore Vasanth, examine frontal sect ...
Kirstin Linkamp
Kirstin Linkamp / UKW
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