About the Speaker

Dr. Charlene (Charlie) Smith is a Project Scientist in the laboratory of Dr. Leslie Thompson at the University of California, Irvine. She carried out her PhD studies at Cardiff University, helping to develop a protocol to turn stem cells into medium spiny neurons – the cells that are most vulnerable in HD. Dr. Smith then applied this protocol to her postdoctoral work in Dr. Thompson's lab to model HD in a dish and study biological changes caused by HD. She identified differences in the way the cells develop and structural abnormalities in the cellular powerhouse (mitochondria) of HD neurons generated from stem cells. Dr. Smith also developed a strategy using CRISPR to lower levels of a protein called PIAS1. PIAS1 helps to add a small decorative protein, called SUMO, onto HTT. Lowering levels of PIAS1 in HD neurons generated from stem cells has protective effects. She is continuing this work in 3D mini brains (striatal and cortical organoids). Dr. Smith has received an HDF postdoctoral fellowship, is active in the Young Investigators workshops, contributes to HD community groups, and served as the Chair of the Gordon Research Seminar for CAG triplet repeat disorders in 2019.

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