Littleton’s Timothy White researches cognitive deficits he lives with

sional — along the way, one of which where he is pursuing a degree at the University of Colorado Denver, Timothy White spent the summer at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio researching chemotherapy-induced cognitive de cits. ies in mice: executive function and memory.

In addition to his passion for neuroscience, he brings a unique personal experience to the lab: almost a decade ago at the age of 18, he was diagnosed with the type of cancer — acute lymphoblastic leukemia — he is researching, and he continues to live with cognitive de cits associated with several years of chemotherapy.

“Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment, or the mechanisms of cognitive de cits associated with any cancer, it’s very under researched,” White said.

White has been a student of science for several years now, having earned an associate’s degree in psychology from ACC before starting at CU Denver, where he is now working toward a bachelor’s of psychology. It wasn’t until about a year ago when he decided “on a whim” to pursue neuroscience studies at a convention in San Diego.

“I noticed there was a presentation being done on an ALL leukemia mice model, and I was like ‘oh, that’s super cool,’” White said. Although he had to catch a ight back home before the presentation, induced cognitive de cits in graduate school, and he started looking into applications. He stumbled upon a webpage for the University of Cincinnati’s Rise Up program for neuroscience, headed by Reyes. With only hours before the application window closed, White gathered last-minute letters of recommendation and applied.

Now, at the close of his summer research position, he feels the lab has made real progress, not only in their internal studies, but in the eld at large. By taking previous research methods a step further and inducing both sexes of mice with leukemia before treating with chemotherapy, White said the lab in Cincinnati is providing a more accurate and practical look at chemotherapy-induced cognitive de cits.

“ ey’re already trying out new diets to try and create a preventative bu er,” White said. “ is isn’t just ‘yes, we want to understand what’s happening in the brain.’ ey are already using this model to try and nd preventative measures and create some kind of extra leg-up on preventing cognitive de cits following treatment.”

White’s struggle with memory continues to be a barrier in his education, but he said that his research cohort has shown support.

“If I’m feeling stressed or anxious or I’m having trouble doing something, everyone in the lab has been more than happy to jump in and help me in whatever ways that I need, and I think that is the environment they would have even if I wasn’t there,” White said. “Everybody there wants to help each other and collaborate.

White has stumbled upon a few don’t like it when I go too far out of Cincinnati, but Cincinnati is great,” White said.

He also found that he was “freaking out for nothing” as he mentally prepared for the research position.

“I feel like every time you start a new job, you have to, like, mentally fortify yourself and get to a point where you feel like you belong,” he said.

“For me personally it’s like OK, I have this memory disorder, I’m an undergrad, I do have research experience but I haven’t worked with genes. ere are all of these things and then when I got here and started working, it was like ‘okay, this is doable.’”

In a research capacity, he unexpectedly found gender-speci c neurological di erences in the mice resulting from the chemotherapy. He said the lab is still unsure about what these ndings mean, but that it’s “really interesting and very strange.” didn’t necessarily expect to,” said Denver’s Darren Albert, winner of a men’s category four race. e event brought some extra business to the shops on Main Street, with what Playa Bowls manager Lauren DeGeus described as “a constant stream of people” coming through.

He now prepares to return to CU Denver for the start of classes, where he will continue working in a neuroscience lab studying alcohol and social bu ering. He looks forward to bringing some new gene-related research skills back to Denver.

As he prepares to nish his bachelor’s degree — hopefully this coming spring, he said — he is looking to grad school, and the University of Cincinnati is at the top of his list. He is also looking at some schools in his home state.

Less than a year after a spontaneous trip to San Diego for a neuroscience conference, White has found a place in a deeply personal eld of research, and is only at the beginning of his journey into cognitive science.

“ e Littleton Criterium is great. It’s awesome. It’s probably the best race on the Colorado calendar, so this is fantastic,” he said.

Albert was racing with Lena Cycling Club, which he named after his daughter.

Cyclists came from across the state to compete, including Avery Cavner from the Groove Subaru Excel Sports team. Cavner, now 15, has been racing since she was six years old, and came with her family from Colorado Springs for the race. ed,” said her mom, Lindsay Cavner, as she watched Avery race.

Avery recently nished a training program in Italy, and intends to go pro.

Following tradition, the event saw some rain, but cyclists and spectators pushed through until the sky opened back up. e races concluded around 10 p.m., as planned.

As for the national professional races, the Denver Disruptors had two women and one man place in the top ten of their respective events. Valentina Scandolara placed second in the women’s professional race, and Leah Kirchmann placed seventh. In the men’s race, Riley Sheehan placed 10th.