About Me

Hello! I’m Andrew Worthy 👋

I’m a PhD student in Emory’s Neuroscience Program (Laney Graduate School), mentored by Dr. Francisco J. Alvarez (Alvarez Lab). My research combines electrophysiology, genetic tools, and computational modeling to discover how spinal interneurons shape movement, and how aging and disease affect spinal circuits.

🔬 Research Themes

• Renshaw cells
  Exploring how they develop and age, and defining their various roles in shaping motor output.
• Ia inhibitory interneurons
  Probing when and how their activity is dynamically modulated during motor behaviors.
• Spinal reflex assays & computational modeling
  Pairing in vivo decerebrate experiments with circuit simulations to delineate the functional roles of various spinal interneuron subtypes.
• Behavioral analysis & Electromyography (EMG)
  Combining behavioral assays with in vivo hindlimb EMG and kinetmatic video tracking to evaluate how genetically-defined spinal interneurons govern motor output.

💻 Technical Skills

• Electrophysiology: In vivo EMG, suction-electrode recordings, nerve stimulation, decerebrate preparations
• Genetics & histology: Transgenic mouse lines, viral tracing, immunohistochemistry
• Computational tools:
  • Python: NumPy/SciPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, Brian2
  • GUI development: PyQt6, Jupyter notebooks
  • Version control: Git, GitHub
• Behavioral analysis: Balance-beam testing, SLEAP video tracking
• Open‑source contributions: See my list of current Projects for code, tools, and collaborations.