Our People

Jason Cannon

PI, Professor of Toxicology

cannonjr@purdue.edu

I am fascinated by how the nervous system works, especially how it responds to exogenous insults. I developed this passion during undergraduate neuroscience classes and during time working in clinical and research sleep labs, where I encountered many patients with neurodegenerative diseases who described environmental exposures that may have led to their symptoms. After training in toxicology (Ph.D., University of Michigan) and neurodegeneration (Pittsburgh Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases/University of Pittsburgh), I formed my own independent lab in 2012. My primary research goal is to innovatively address the address the most pressing problems in neurotoxicology. The most important part of my lab are the people. I very much enjoy fostering trainee success. Beyond my own lab, I have taken on leadership aimed at connecting training and scholarly excellence as Director of the Toxicology Graduate Program and as Assistant Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs. Jason’s CV.

Josephine Brown-Leung

Ph.D. Candidate

brow1402@purdue.edu

Josephine Brown-Leung has over 10 years of experience working in neurotoxicology and genetically modified rodents. As an undergraduate researcher at Northern Kentucky University, she studied the developmental neurotoxic effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and taurine supplementation on neurobehavioral and neurochemical outcomes. Prior to starting graduate school, she worked as a data toxicologist for 9 months at the National Center for Computational Toxicology at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, working on database curation of over 50 years of guideline animal toxicity experiments. During her Master’s at the University of Cincinnati, she performed experiments utilizing neurobehavioral assessments and design-based stereology to evaluate intranasal drugs (carnosine and Nilotinib) for potential treatments for Parkinson’s disease in a mouse model over-expressing human alpha synuclein. Josephine is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Purdue’s Toxicology Program. Her dissertation research focuses on neurotransmission targets of PFAS exposures. Moreover, she is actively developing and characterizing novel transgenic animal models to improve human relevance of laboratory based neurotoxicology studies.

Fatema Currim

Postdoctoral Fellow

fcurrim@purdue.edu

Fatema Currim is a postdoctoral fellow in the Cannon lab. She completed her PhD in Biochemistry at The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in Gujarat, India. She initially joined the Cannon Lab as part of a visiting exchange program. Her primary research focus is centered on investigating the role of biological nanostructures known as exosomes and their implications in Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Fatema utilized cellular models of PD to examine the release of exosomes and the identification of their miRNA cargo. Her research endeavors also aimed to elucidate the impact of these miRNAs on the functional aspects of recipient cells, particularly in terms of mitochondrial functions and cell death. At Purdue, Fatema has expanded her studies to include in vivo models, where she has already generated exciting data. Outside of her academic pursuits, Fatema enjoys going to the gym, reading, and traveling for relaxation and enjoyment. 

Mohammed Jakaria

Postdoctoral Fellow

mjakaria@purdue.edu

Mohammed Jakaria is a postdoctoral fellow in the Cannon Lab. He completed his Ph.D. in the Florey at the University of Melbourne, where his research focused on ferroptosis in neurodegeneration. At Purdue, his research will focus on mechanisms of heterocyclic aromatic amine induced neurotoxicity.

Safreena Narukkottil

Visiting Ph.D. Student

snarukko@purdue.edu

Safreena Narukkottil is a visiting Ph.D. student from the Inter-University Center for Biomedical Research &
Super Speciality Hospital, Kottayam, Kerala, India. She is part of the Overseas Visiting Doctoral Fellowship program within a strategic Purdue – India partnership. Safreena’s research is focused on the role of post-translational protein modifications in modulating neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration.

Reeya Tanwar

Ph.D. candidate

rtanwar@purdue.edu

Reeya Tanwar joined the Cannon lab the summer of 2023 to pursue her PhD in Toxicology as part of the PULSe program. Her previous research focused on testing an MPP derivative for the treatment of traumatic brain injury related depression. She worked on animal models of Traumatic Brain Injury to examine the effects of TBI related depression. Reeya’s research also involved the use of computational methods to elucidate the interactions that the drug undergoes using molecular docking. Her Ph.D. project focuses on neurotoxicity/neurodegeneration produced from military relevant organophosphate exposures.