Natalya Ortolano, PhD

Natalya received her PhD in from Vanderbilt University in 2021; she joined the DDN team the same week she defended her thesis. Her work has been featured at STAT News, Vanderbilt Magazine, and Scientific American. As an assistant editor, she writes and edits online and print stories on topics ranging from cows to psychedelics. Outside of work you can probably find her at a concert in her hometown Nashville, TN.

Articles by Natalya Ortolano, PhD

Prosthetics send messages between the eye and brain to help blind patients see

May 18, 2022By Natalya Ortolano, PhD

Treatments for blindness target the retina and the brain

Researchers are developing gene and cell therapies and prosthetics to help patients with blindness regain some vision. The first major prosthetic, the Argus II, was just discontinued. Where will the field go from here?

Apr 24, 2022By Natalya Ortolano, PhD

Biotech start-ups and condensate targeted drugs

Membraneless droplet like organelles known as condensates are changing the way some scientists approach drug discovery.

Apr 22, 2022By Natalya Ortolano, PhD

A mysterious cellular tango

Researchers no longer think that proteins blindly swim through the cytoplasm hoping to bump into one another. Instead, they intentionally aggregate with other biomolecules, forming membrane free, transient organelles called condensates.

Apr 12, 2022By Natalya Ortolano, PhD

A new biotech company gears up to target GPCRs with antibodies

The company plans to develop more specialized, antibody-based GPCR drugs to treat a myriad of diseases. They recruited a leader in overseeing successful clinical trials to get the job done.

Evidence shows that tailoring recruitment strategies to specific populations results in higher participation and greater diversity in clinical trials.

Apr 08, 2022By Natalya Ortolano, PhD

Scientists and communicators team up to increase clinical trial participation

Clinicians, researchers, and communicators are developing more effective strategies to disseminate information about clinical trials to reach a wider audience. They ultimately expect that this will lead to more inclusive trials.

Omicron has more mutations relative to the original SARS-CoV-2 strain than any previous variant. While the delta strain only has two mutations in the RBD, omicron has 10.

Apr 01, 2022By Natalya Ortolano, PhD

Omicron mutations help it evade antibodies

COVID-19 has gotten a little better at infecting cells and dodging antibodies with each set of mutations in new variants. Omicron is the best at dodging antibodies, but its modified structure sacrificed virulence for antibody resistance.

Mar 22, 2022By Natalya Ortolano, PhD

Virtual reality is the latest trend in digital therapeutics

The FDA approved the first video game prescription in 2020. Since then, researchers are building more “prescription video games.” However, they aren’t sticking to 2D games; they are developing virtual reality experiences.

Snowshoe hare looking at us on a snowy day

Mar 15, 2022By Natalya Ortolano, PhD

The omicron variant forces scientists to change their course

Just as the delta outbreak subsided, the omicron outbreak peaked. How will we navigate this new pandemic terrain?

Richard Frye, a neurologist at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, analyzed the morphology of mitochondria (red) in patient-derived fibroblasts to determine if there was a connection between autism symptoms, mitochondrial function, and mitochondrial morphology.

Mar 06, 2022By Natalya Ortolano, PhD

Researchers connect autism symptoms with mitochondrial morphology

Mitochondria aren’t just the bean-shaped powerhouses of the cell. They are dynamic organelles that modify their structures to match their functions. Now, new research shows that mitochondrial morphology correlates not only with function, but also with symptom severity in autism.

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that change their morphology in response to the energetic needs of the cell. But in some diseases such as autism spectrum disorder, mitochondria don't appropriately respond, and the resulting metabolic dysfunction contributes to symptom severity.

Mar 06, 2022By Natalya Ortolano, PhD

Infographic: Mitochondria aren't always model employees

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that change their morphology in response to the energetic needs of the cell. But in some disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, mitochondria don't appropriately respond, and the resulting metabolic dysfunction contributes to symptom severity.