Carmen-Jeanette “CJ” Stepek received her B.Sc. in Applied Physics and Mathematics from California State University Channel Islands before completing her PhD in Systems & Computational Neuroscience at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), where she studied the selective vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson’s disease. Her current research integrates spatial multi-omics, high-dimensional imaging, and DNA repair-deficient models to investigate how cellular senescence and lipid peroxidation drive brain aging and neurodegeneration. Leveraging her quantitative background, CJ is also developing AI-driven tools and custom machine learning workflows to automate image processing and multi-modal data analysis for high-throughput spatial biology. CJ finds balance by doing yoga, spending time in nature and in the company of animals. Her hobbies include jigsaw puzzles, travelling, and learning languages.
