About

Janet Alder is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology at Rutgers University. Her major research interest is neurological disease, and she employs cell biology research techniques using mice as her research organism. In addition to her research, she holds administrative roles as Assistant Dean in the School of Graduate Studies and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Postdocs. She is passionate about supporting biomedical graduate students and postdocs, helping them thrive during their time at Rutgers and preparing them for their careers. Alder co-directs the iJOBS program, which was funded by an NIH grant to assist biomedical trainees in exploring career options both within and outside of academia. She also teaches a course in Communicating Science for PhD students, oversees the Individual Development Plan programs, and runs workshops and microbadges to improve research mentorship. Furthermore, she offers professional development workshops on manuscript and grant writing and facilitates mental health resources for graduate students and postdocs.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Computer Science
• Political Science
• Medical education
• Psychology
• Engineering ethics
• Engineering
• Knowledge management
• Psychiatry
• Public relations
• Biology
• Bioinformatics
• Internal medicine
• Neuroscience
• Pedagogy

Selected publications

• The 16p11.2 microdeletion exacerbates neurodevelopmental alterations induced by early-life microbiome perturbation

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2025-02-25

  preprintOpen access

  Abstract Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) arise from interactions between genetic factors and environmental exposures, with infancy representing a critical period of vulnerability. This exploratory, preclinical study investigated whether the 16p11.2 microdeletion (16pDel), a NDD-associated genetic variant, exacerbates the effects of early-life therapeutic antibiotic exposure on the gut microbiome, hippocampal development, and behavior. Cefdinir, selected for its epidemiological association with NDD risk, acutely perturbed the gut microbiome, causing sustained reductions in Lachnospiraceae . These changes were followed by alterations in sociability, risk assessment, and associative learning. Notably, only cefdinir-exposed 16pDel mice exhibited altered hippocampal stem cell dynamics and gene expression, demonstrating genotype-dependent susceptibility. Increased intestinal permeability and alterations in arginine biosynthesis and glycerophospholipid metabolism implicate gut barrier dysfunction as a contributing factor. Our findings suggest that genetic composition can exacerbate neurodevelopmental consequences of early-life microbiome perturbations, identify metabolic pathways for potential interventions, and support cautious antibiotic use during infancy, especially in genetically vulnerable populations.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A systematic review of immunotherapies in combination with temozolomide as treatment for glioblastoma

  Cancer Treatment and Research Communications · 2025-01-01

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  • Only bevacizumab with temozolomide and granular macrophage colony stimulating factor with temozolomoide reported an improvement in desired outcomes compared to the temozolomide alone. • Our selected studies from 2014 to 2016 used bevacizumab whereas 2016-present did not use that treatment. • In our examinations of our selected 10 papers, we identified 7 unique immunotherapies ( Table 1 ). These were bevacizumab, irinoectan, autologous dendritic cell (DC) vaccine, nivolumab, interferon-beta (β), ICT-107 vaccine, and granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Glioblastomas comprise a significant percentage of malignant adult central nervous system tumor cases and patients typically do not survive longer than a year after diagnosis. There are few treatment options for patients which meaningfully prolong survival other than chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery. There are many clinical trials examining immunotherapy-chemotherapy combination treatments. This systematic review uses database research of clinical trials to identify randomized controlled immunotherapy-temozolomide combination trials which evaluate the median overall and progression-free survival in adult patients. The review also assesses the study design of selected trials for risk of bias. The desired outcomes are presented as they are reported in the selected studies and are evaluated based on reported statistical significance. We included 10 studies in the final selection and found five studies focused on bevacizumab as an immunotherapy in combination with temozolomide while five used unique interventions. Of those studies, only bevacizumab and autologous dendritic cell vaccination reported an improvement in desired outcomes compared to the control. The risk of bias analysis identified only one study with high risk of bias and five studies with unclear risk of bias in blinding. Our study identifies promising treatments and recommends further examination of those interventions but does not make any recommendations on changes to current glioblastoma treatments. The authors have no funding or conflict of interests to declare. The authors followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines for writing this review.

  PublisherDOI

• Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in Cell Adhesion Molecule L1 Affects Learning and Memory in a Mouse Model of Traumatic Brain Injury

  International Journal of Molecular Sciences · 2024-03-06 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  The L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1) has demonstrated a range of beneficial effects in animal models of spinal cord injury, neurodegenerative disease, and ischemia; however, the role of L1 in TBI has not been fully examined. Mutations in the L1 gene affecting the extracellular domain of this type 1 transmembrane glycoprotein have been identified in patients with L1 syndrome. These patients suffer from hydrocephalus, MASA (mental retardation, adducted thumbs, shuffling gait, aphasia) symptoms, and corpus callosum agenesis. Clinicians have observed that recovery post-traumatic brain injury (TBI) varies among the population. This variability may be explained by the genetic differences present in the general population. In this study, we utilized a novel mouse model of L1 syndrome with a mutation at aspartic acid position 201 in the extracellular domain of L1 (L1-201). We assessed the impact of this specific single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) localized to the X-chromosome L1 gene on recovery outcomes following TBI by comparing the L1-201 mouse mutants with their wild-type littermates. We demonstrate that male L1-201 mice exhibit significantly worse learning and memory outcomes in the Morris water maze after lateral fluid percussion (LFP) injury compared to male wild-type mice and a trend to worse motor function on the rotarod. However, no significant changes were observed in markers for inflammatory responses or apoptosis after TBI.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Imaging the large-scale and cellular response to focal traumatic brain injury in mouse neocortex

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2024-04-25 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Abstract Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects neural function at the local injury site and also at distant, connected brain areas. However, the real-time neural dynamics in response to injury and subsequent effects on sensory processing and behavior are not fully resolved, especially across a range of spatial scales. We used in vivo calcium imaging in awake, head-restrained male and female mice to measure large-scale and cellular resolution neuronal activation, respectively, in response to a mild/moderate TBI induced by focal controlled cortical impact (CCI) injury of the motor cortex (M1). Widefield imaging revealed an immediate CCI-induced activation at the injury site, followed by a massive slow wave of calcium signal activation that traveled across the majority of the dorsal cortex within approximately 30 s. Correspondingly, two-photon calcium imaging in primary somatosensory cortex (S1) found strong activation of neuropil and neuronal populations during the CCI-induced traveling wave. A depression of calcium signals followed the wave, during which we observed atypical activity of a sparse population of S1 neurons. Longitudinal imaging in the hours and days after CCI revealed increases in the area of whisker-evoked sensory maps at early time points, in parallel to decreases in cortical functional connectivity and behavioral measures. Neural and behavioral changes mostly recovered over hours to days in our M1-TBI model, with a more lasting decrease in the number of active S1 neurons. Our results in unanesthetized mice describe novel spatial and temporal neural adaptations that occur at cortical sites remote to a focal brain injury.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Imaging the large‐scale and cellular response to focal traumatic brain injury in mouse neocortex

  Experimental Physiology · 2024-11-22 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects neural function at the local injury site and also at distant, connected brain areas. However, the real-time neural dynamics in response to injury and subsequent effects on sensory processing and behaviour are not fully resolved, especially across a range of spatial scales. We used in vivo calcium imaging in awake, head-restrained male and female mice to measure large-scale and cellular resolution neuronal activation, respectively, in response to a mild/moderate TBI induced by focal controlled cortical impact (CCI) injury of the motor cortex (M1). Widefield imaging revealed an immediate CCI-induced activation at the injury site, followed by a massive slow wave of calcium signal activation that travelled across the majority of the dorsal cortex within approximately 30 s. Correspondingly, two-photon calcium imaging in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) found strong activation of neuropil and neuronal populations during the CCI-induced travelling wave. A depression of calcium signals followed the wave, during which we observed the atypical activity of a sparse population of S1 neurons. Longitudinal imaging in the hours and days after CCI revealed increases in the area of whisker-evoked sensory maps at early time points, in parallel to decreases in cortical functional connectivity and behavioural measures. Neural and behavioural changes mostly recovered over hours to days in our M1-TBI model, with a more lasting decrease in the number of active S1 neurons. Our results in unanaesthetized mice describe novel spatial and temporal neural adaptations that occur at cortical sites remote to a focal brain injury.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Status of precision medicine approaches to traumatic brain injury

  Neural Regeneration Research · 2022-01-01 · 32 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious condition in which trauma to the head causes damage to the brain, leading to a disruption in brain function. This is a significant health issue worldwide, with around 69 million people suffering from TBI each year. Immediately following the trauma, damage occurs in the acute phase of injury that leads to the primary outcomes of the TBI. In the hours-to-days that follow, secondary damage can also occur, leading to chronic outcomes. TBIs can range in severity from mild to severe, and can be complicated by the fact that some individuals sustain multiple TBIs, a risk factor for worse long-term outcomes. Although our knowledge about the pathophysiology of TBI has increased in recent years, unfortunately this has not been translated into effective clinical therapies. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve any drugs for the treatment of TBI; current clinical treatment guidelines merely offer supportive care. Outcomes between individuals greatly vary, which makes the treatment for TBI so challenging. A blow of similar force can have only mild, primary outcomes in one individual and yet cause severe, chronic outcomes in another. One of the reasons that have been proposed for this differential response to TBI is the underlying genetic differences across the population. Due to this, many researchers have begun to investigate the possibility of using precision medicine techniques to address TBI treatment. In this review, we will discuss the research detailing the identification of genetic risk factors for worse outcomes after TBI, and the work investigating personalized treatments for these higher-risk individuals. We highlight the need for further research into the identification of higher-risk individuals and the development of personalized therapies for TBI.

  PublisherDOI

• Using stakeholder insights to enhance engagement in PhD professional development

  PLoS ONE · 2022-01-27 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  There is increasing awareness of the need for pre- and post-doctoral professional development and career guidance, however many academic institutions are only beginning to build out these functional roles. As a graduate career educator, accessing vast silos and resources at a university and with industry-partners can be daunting, yet collaboration and network development are crucial to the success of any career and professional development office. To better inform and direct these efforts, forty-five stakeholders external and internal to academic institutions were identified and interviewed to gather perspectives on topics critical to career development offices. Using a stakeholder engagement visualization tool developed by the authors, strengths and weaknesses can be assessed. General themes from interviews with internal and external stakeholders are discussed to provide various stakeholder subgroup perspectives to help prepare for successful interactions. Benefits include increased engagement and opportunities to collaborate, and to build or expand graduate career development offices.

  PublisherDOI

• A cross-institutional analysis of the effects of broadening trainee professional development on research productivity

  PLoS Biology · 2021 · 31 citations

  • Political Science
  • Medical education
  • Public relations

  PhD-trained scientists are essential contributors to the workforce in diverse employment sectors that include academia, industry, government, and nonprofit organizations. Hence, best practices for training the future biomedical workforce are of national concern. Complementing coursework and laboratory research training, many institutions now offer professional training that enables career exploration and develops a broad set of skills critical to various career paths. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded academic institutions to design innovative programming to enable this professional development through a mechanism known as Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST). Programming at the NIH BEST awardee institutions included career panels, skill-building workshops, job search workshops, site visits, and internships. Because doctoral training is lengthy and requires focused attention on dissertation research, an initial concern was that students participating in additional complementary training activities might exhibit an increased time to degree or diminished research productivity. Metrics were analyzed from 10 NIH BEST awardee institutions to address this concern, using time to degree and publication records as measures of efficiency and productivity. Comparing doctoral students who participated to those who did not, results revealed that across these diverse academic institutions, there were no differences in time to degree or manuscript output. Our findings support the policy that doctoral students should participate in career and professional development opportunities that are intended to prepare them for a variety of diverse and important careers in the workforce.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Using Stakeholder Insights to Enhance Engagement in PhD Professional Development

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2021-04-29

  preprintOpen access

  Abstract There is increasing awareness of the need for predoctoral and postdoctoral professional development and career guidance, however many academic institutions are only beginning to build out these functional roles. As a graduate career educator, accessing the vast silos and resources at a university and with industrial partners can be daunting, yet collaborative endeavors and network development both on and off campus are crucial to the success of any career and professional development office. To better inform and direct the efforts of graduate career offices, forty-five stakeholders external and internal to academic institutions were identified and interviewed to gather and categorize perspectives on topics critical to career and professional development offices. Using a stakeholder network visualization tool developed by the authors, stakeholder engagement can be rapidly assessed to ascertain areas where offices have strong connections and other areas where additional efforts could be directed to enhance engagement. General themes from interviews with internal and external stakeholders are discussed to provide graduate career educators with various stakeholder subgroup perspectives to help prepare for successful interactions. Benefits include increased engagement and opportunities to collaborate, as well as the opportunity to build or expand graduate career development offices.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Contributors

  Elsevier eBooks · 2020-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Neuropeptide VGF in Antidepressant-Induced Neurogenesis and Mood Disorders

  NIH · $1.7M · 2010–2016

Frequent coauthors

• Smita Thakker‐Varia

  Johnson University

  37 shared

• Anna O. Giarratana

  Northwell Health

  14 shared

• Shavonne Teng

  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  13 shared

• Paul T. Francis

  Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre

  10 shared

• Haoyu Jiang

  Johnson University

  9 shared

• Xiaofeng Zhou

  Tarim University

  9 shared

• Christopher Chen

  National University of Singapore

  7 shared

• A Palmieri

  Jersey Shore University Medical Center

  7 shared