From law and order to genetic disorders

Allyson Herriges didn’t set out to be a neuroscientist. For 10 years, she was an active duty and reserve Army military police officer.

But along the way, she married and had three children, all of whom need educational support, including one son with autism. Her experience led her back to college to learn how to help parents like her.

Herriges is pursuing a doctorate in Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program. She is researching a genetic mutation tied to a range of neuropsychiatric disorders.

And now, she’s doing it with support from a James R. Carter Sr. Memorial Award from the Swing It to End It organization. The $5,000 Carter fellowships are given to Virginia Tech graduate students conducting translational neuroscience research with a faculty mentor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. Annette Carter created the awards to honor and remember her late husband by supporting the study of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. The awards are funded through a golf tournament and other charitable events.

Herriges will use the Carter award to support her research and outreach.

“I want to study the genetics of autism and how certain gene mutations result in specific symptoms and behaviors,” Herriges said. “But my much larger aspiration is to use my Ph.D. as a stepping stone into special education and disability advocacy.”

Herriges is a graduate research assistant in the lab of neuroscientist Ryan Purcell, assistant professor with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. The lab studies a genetic disorder called 3q29 Deletion Syndrome. One predominant symptom of 3q29Del is a neuropsychiatric diagnosis. Affected individuals are 40 times more likely to develop schizophrenia and 19 times more likely to be diagnosed with autism.

In her second year with Purcell, Herriges is using stem cell technology to study the impact of iron deficiency on the developing human brain. The team found that individuals with 3q29Del are 10 times more likely to report a history of anemia.

“My early research suggests that 3q29Del increases vulnerability to iron deficiency, which may be an environmental mediator of disease severity and clinical outcomes,” Herriges said. Through ongoing studies, she is investigating the underlying mechanisms of that connection by examining cell lines, tissues derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells, and mouse models. She hopes her findings will translate to human health and provide insight into how environmental factors such as a nutrient deficiency can interact with genetic risk to influence neurodevelopment.

“Allyson’s drive to study the cellular and molecular basis of neurodevelopmental disorders is so strong that she joined my lab before I had officially started at Virginia Tech last summer,” Purcell said in nominating her for the award. “She worked hard to help get the lab up and running and dove right into this project, which has required extensive new training for her. Undaunted by any of these potential obstacles, she has already generated important new data.”

Herriges’ oldest child was diagnosed with autism in 2017, when he was 3 years old. He has moderate to severe limitations with verbal communication. Two years later, Herriges enrolled at Virginia Western Community College and then Roanoke College.

“I went back in the hope of better understanding my non-verbal child,” she said. “The more I learned, the more questions I had. And the more I delved into the special needs world, the more I wanted to help other parents like me.”

All three of Herriges’ children have individualized educational plans, which are designed to improve educational outcomes for students with disabilities. After working with schools on behalf of her children, she worries that not all kids with needs like hers receive the same level of support.

“It's intimidating and overwhelming to have a special needs child,” she said. “Policies are lengthy and use legal jargon. Parents often have to hire an advocate to make sense of it all, and not all have the means or awareness to hire one. I'd like to work to ensure equity in the quality of support and services children receive.”