CV
Andrew Worthy
Summary
Currently employed at Emory University. PhD Researcher & Data Scientist Python · ML · Signal Processing
Publications
- Spiteful Weapons and the Environmental Dependence of Phage2020
- Mucoidy, a general mechanism for maintaining lytic phage in populations of bacteria2020FEMS Microbiology EcologyThis study demonstrates that overproduction of exopolysaccharides, "mucoidy", allows bacterial populations to be resistant to lytic bacteriophage infection. We found that spontaneous reversion from the mucoid state to the susceptible non-mucoid state allows these phage-resistant bacterial populations to maintain lytic viruses without greatly affecting the bacterial population density.
- Spinal V1 inhibitory interneuron clades differ in birthdate, projections to motoneurons, and heterogeneity2024eLifeThis study characterizes the various subtypes ("clades") of spinal V1 interneurons, describing their relative neurogenesis times, their distributions throughout the lumbar spinal cord, and their connections to motoneurons. It also investigates the molecular identities of further subdivisions within the Foxp2-V1 clade, and demonstrates that some of these Foxp2-V1s have connectivity that resembles reciprocal Ia inhibitory interneurons (IaINs).
- Synchrony within Aβ mechanoreceptor subtypes governs signal propagation to primary somatosensory cortex2026bioRxiv (preprint)This study uses optogenetics with a fast channelrhodopsin variant (CatCh) to reveal how temporal patterns and synchrony of activity within Aβ low threshold mechanoreceptor subtypes control signal propagation to primary somatosensory cortex. We found that sustained cortical responses require synchronous activation of multiple Aβ SAI-LTMRs, while Aβ RAI-LTMRs drive robust cortical responses even with asynchronous activation.
Presentations
- V1 Interneurons Expressing Foxp2 are a Highly Heterogeneous Clade2022The Seminars in Integrative Neuroscience (SIN), Emory Cell BiologyAtlanta, GA, USA
- V1 Interneurons Expressing Foxp2 Are a Highly Heterogeneous Clade2022Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting (SfN 2022)San Diego, CA, USA
- Renshaw Cell Ablation Increases Monosynaptic H-Reflex Amplitude in Decerebrate Mice2025Motor Control: Spinal Circuits and BeyondUSA
- Renshaw Cell Modulation of Reciprocal Inhibition and Motor Output2026SOM: Cell Biology Research in ProgressAtlanta, GA, USA
Teaching
- NBB-301: Introduction to Neurobiology2024Emory University, Biology DepartmentRole: Undergraduate course
Portfolio
- H-Reflex Recruitment Curve Modeling — ML RegressionPortfolioApplying regression modeling and feature engineering to predict H-reflex amplitude from stimulus and physiological parameters across experimental sessions — a real predictive modeling problem on data I collected (in progress).
- make_contours — Project Write-up2025PortfolioAdapting and publishing a MATLAB spatial interpolation toolkit as the open-source, reproducible analysis pipeline for a peer-reviewed eLife study on spinal interneuron distributions.
- MonStim Analyzer — Project Write-up2024PortfolioA production PyQt6 desktop application for processing, visualizing, and analyzing 100+ GB multi-channel electrophysiological datasets — reducing lab analysis time by ~80%.
- MonStim Plotter — Project Write-up2025PortfolioA companion PyQt6 application for automated, reproducible generation of publication-quality EMG trace figures — turning a half-day manual task into a 10-minute batch job.
- Motor Unit Action Potential Classifier — ML ProjectPortfolioUsing unsupervised and supervised machine learning to automatically classify motor unit action potential waveforms in multi-channel EMG recordings — a problem I've spent years solving manually (in progress).
- Neuroscience Literature Database — SQL Analysis2026PortfolioA normalized SQLite database built on PubMed open data, with a Python ETL pipeline and five analytical SQL queries mapping publication trends in spinal neuroscience.
- NHANES Health Data — Exploratory SQL & Python AnalysisPortfolioBuilding a queryable relational database from CDC NHANES survey data and using SQL + Python to explore associations between physical activity, neuromuscular metrics, and health outcomes (in progress).