Young Investigator: Q&A with Zoe Cappel on Understanding Attention and ADHD-like Symptoms in NF1

The Young Investigator Award (YIA) provides two-year salary support to early-career NF researchers to help them get established as independent NF investigators and pursue bold, innovative projects designed to improve care and uncover new treatments for people living with NF. Since its inception, several YIAs have made groundbreaking research findings and notable publications through this program, and many have advanced to become leaders in the NF research and clinical communities.

We're pleased to introduce some of these researchers from the latest class of awardees: Zoe Cappel (Cincinnati Children's Hospital), whose YIA-funded study is investigating how changes in dopamine signaling and brain circuitry contribute to attention and ADHD-like symptoms in NF1. By identifying the brain pathways involved, her research aims to inform future therapies that improve cognitive function and quality of life.

What are you hoping to discover through this project?
Through my mouse studies, I am hoping to learn a little more about what brain regions and cell types are primarily driving the attentional phenotypes that we see in patients with NF1.

What first drew you to study NF and/or what continues to inspire your work?
What drew me to NF1 was how complex a disorder it is. Given my background in neuroscience, I have always been interested in the fact that a cancer predisposition syndrome has such broad cognitive manifestations as well, including a high incidence of ADHD and ASD, among other things.

What does a typical day in the lab look like for you?
Most of my days in the lab are spent running various behavioral tests on mice all day long to study attentional deficits. I use various mouse lines that have sustained activity of the Ras-MAPK pathway in selective brain regions so that we can independently test the role of these regions in different tasks and behaviors.

What does it mean to you to receive this support from the Children's Tumor Foundation?
Having support from the Children's Tumor Foundation is an incredible honor. It's a wonderful feeling to be recognized for my hard work and passion for science research. I have wanted to be a scientist from a young age, and I am grateful for the ability to chase the research questions that fascinate me the most while also being a part of such a wonderful community.

How do you like to spend your time outside the lab?
Outside of the lab I am walking miles with my dog, and watching sports or live music with my fiancé!

Click here to learn more about funding opportunities, including the Young Investigator Awards, from the Children's Tumor Foundation.

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