Robert C Sharp, PhD

Robert C. Sharp, Ph.D., has joined Professor Matthew Farrer’s Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Neuroscience as a Cell Culture Biologist (Biological Scientist II). He is working with the Farrer lab on their studies on the role of the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) protein in Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis. With his expertise in cell line and primary cell culturing, immunocytochemistry, flow cytometric immunophenotyping, gene editing, and overall molecular/cell biology, he provides support and new ideas for the Farrer lab.

As a clinical immunologist, Dr. Sharp has studied various of autoimmune diseases throughout his Bachelor’s (Biotechnology, University of Central Florida, 2013), his Master’s (Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida, 2014), his Ph.D. (Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida, 2018), and his postdoctoral career (University of Florida Diabetes Institute, 2019-2022). These autoimmune diseases include: Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and type 1 diabetes. As such, he hope that while working with the Farrer lab, to find the connection of LRRK2 to both neurological and immunological diseases.