Paul Darnell

EDUCATION

B.A., Philosophy, University of Maryland, College Park (2018)

SUMMARY

Paul discovered his love of biological sciences during his postgraduate work as a research technician in the Heintz Lab at the Rockefeller University in New York City. There, he studied cell type-specific gene expression in the human cortex in Huntington's Disease and Alzheimer's. In 2025, Paul joined Stony Brook University's graduate program in Molecular and Cellular Biology and is currently completing his Ph.D in the Krainer Lab. Paul's interests lie in molecular mechanisms of gene expression and exploration of specific genomic factors with unique pathological effects. 

Outside of the lab, Paul likes to spend time cooking, listening to music, in the gym, and catching up on his favorite shows. 

PUBLICATIONS

Pressl, C., Mätlik, K., Kus, L., Darnell, P., Luo, J.D., Paul, M.A., Weiss, A.R., Liguore, W., Carrol, T.S., Davis, D.A., McBride, J., and Heintz, N. (2023). Selective Vulnerability of Layer 5a Corticostriatal Neurons in Huntington's Disease. Neuron, vol. 112 issue 6, pp 924-941.

Pressl, C., Baffuto, M., Darnell, P., Wang, C., Carroll, T. S., Heintz, N., & Mätlik, K. (2024). Isolation and molecular profiling of nuclei of specific neuronal types from human cerebral cortex and striatum. Current Protocols, 4, e70067. doi: 10.1002/cpz1.70067

Baffuto, M., Mätlik, K., Ilyashov, I., Chetia, H., Siantoputri, E. M., Sipos, E., Maeda, Y., Darnell, P., Didkovsky, N., Kus, L., Carroll, T. S., Barrows, D., Pressl, C., & Heintz, N. (2025). Epigenetic mechanisms governing cell type specific somatic expansion and toxicity in Huntington’s disease. In preprint, doi: 10.1101/2025.05.21.653721