Hanna Shields

I'm Hanna and I originally hail from Portland, Oregon U.S.A. In 2022, I graduated summa cum laude from Linfield University with a B.S. in Biochemistry. In 2022, I carried out a Fulbright Research Grant at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Disease (DZNE). I am now pursuing a M.Sc. in Biomedical Neuroscience at the TUM in Munich. For my masters thesis, I am investigating EEG-fMRI steady-state visually evoked potentials (SSVEPs) in response to flickering light at each subject’s individual alpha frequency (IAF), across graded levels of propofol-induced sedation. When I am not in the lab, you may find me participating in the AGV Symphony Orchestra or hiking throughout Bavaria.

Prior to beginning my M.Sc., I spent a year as a Fulbright fellow in Dr. Daniele Bano’s lab at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), where I co-authored a Nature CDDIS paper on early-onset familial Parkinson’s Disease and developed an independent project on mitochondrial function.  

During my M.Sc., I carried out an internship at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, where I investigated axonal trafficking of mitochondria and the localization of mRNA in nerve tissues. The lab, led by Dr. Angelika Harbauer, investigates Pink1 mRNA “hitchhiking” on axonal mitochondria, suggesting a mechanism for localized mitochondrial quality control. 

I am currently investigating steady-state visually evoked potentials (SSVEPs) in response to flickering light at each subject’s individual alpha frequency (IAF), across graded levels of propofol-induced sedation. SSVEP response to IAF has been well-characterized for decades, but its use as a functional biomarker during anesthesia--particularly for tracking alpha power dynamics--has been previously neglected. Patients with higher baseline alpha power tend to respond more favorably to anesthesia than those without it. Thus, there is a strong potential for clinical relevance; if there were a way to transiently stimulate the brain's alpha power (i.e. increase excitability) during sedation, it could be utilized as a prevention mechanism for POD. This is one of the outcomes we aim to investigate with this study,  which consists of EEG-fMRI data collected during randomly flickering lights at or around each subject’s IAF. 

M.Sc. Biomedical Neuroscience, Technical University of Munich, Current Grade: 1.5 (German scale), Expected 10/2025

B.S. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Linfield University,  Final Grade: 3.917/4.000 Summa Cum Laude (US scale), 08/2018 - 05/2022