{"id":102094,"date":"2025-05-12T14:02:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T14:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=102094"},"modified":"2025-05-13T19:38:42","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T19:38:42","slug":"commencement-2025-traumatic-accident-inspired-cailyn-doyle-to-study-clinical-neuroscience-at-uri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2025\/05\/commencement-2025-traumatic-accident-inspired-cailyn-doyle-to-study-clinical-neuroscience-at-uri\/","title":{"rendered":"Commencement 2025: Traumatic accident inspired Cailyn Doyle to study clinical neuroscience at 溏心vlog免费B站"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 12, 2025 \u2013 When Cailyn Doyle was only 2 years old, the trajectory of her life, and those of her family members, changed forever. Doyle\u2019s father, a police officer in their hometown of Wilbraham, Massachusetts<\/strong>, was struck by a drunk driver while on the job and suffered a severe traumatic brain injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had a difficult time understanding an injury that I couldn\u2019t see,\u201d said Doyle. \u201cThe injury severely affected his cognition, including impairments to his memory, attention, problem-solving ability, judgment, logic and reasoning, and self-control. I wanted to know exactly what caused my dad to behave the way he did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doyle enrolled in the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s clinical neuroscience<\/a> program to gain a better understanding of her father\u2019s brain injury. She\u2019ll cross the commencement stage in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Ryan Center this week.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Cailyn Doyle with her father, Christopher, on 溏心vlog免费B站 move-in day in 2022. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThis program has given me a greater understanding and appreciation for my dad and all that he has been through,\u201d said Doyle. \u201cIt takes an incredible amount of strength to rebuild your life after such a life-altering accident. I couldn\u2019t be prouder of him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cailyn\u2019s father, Christopher, is proud of his daughter for finding a positive path forward from a difficult experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wish she didn\u2019t have the first-hand experiences she had that led her to where she is now,\u201d said Christopher Doyle. \u201cI am happy, however, that she found a way to change a negative life experience into such a positive. She never ceases to amaze me. I am super proud of her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the last year and a half, Doyle has conducted research in associate professor Katharina Quinlan<\/a>\u2019s laboratory, which is dedicated to investigating how spinal neurons change and deteriorate in neurodegenerative diseases or after injuries where movement is critically impaired or lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCailyn possesses a rare combination of dependability, curiosity, and the ability to work hard to achieve great results. She is one of the best students I\u2019ve had,\u201d said Quinlan of the George H. Bond & Mary Kulik Bond Endowed Scholarship recipient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most common motor disorder in children is cerebral palsy, marked by increased muscle tone and exaggerated reflexes. Cerebral palsy is most often caused by brain injuries that occur at or around the time of birth. This injury weakens the developing corticospinal tract, which is the major pathway for voluntary control of movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy research is focused on whether damage to these pathways is associated with anatomical changes that could lead to exaggerated reflexes,\u201d said Doyle. \u201cI use a research method known as immunohistochemistry, which labels specific proteins in cells to help visualize them under a microscope. This allows us to determine if there are anatomical changes in the spinal cord after an injury that could lead to the exaggerated reflexes in cerebral palsy. Our preliminary data suggests these changes do exist and contributes to these exaggerated reflexes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa Weyandt, a professor of psychology and director of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program<\/a>, had Doyle as a student in her clinical neuroscience course and met with her several times during office hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCailyn has high standards for herself and others,\u201d said Weyandt. \u201cShe also has a tender heart for those impacted by misfortune, particularly those suffering from traumatic brain injury and other neurological conditions. Given her intellect, high standards, and kindness, I\u2019m certain she will make a fine physician.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside the classroom and lab, Doyle has been active in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Neuroscience Club and the 溏心vlog免费B站 chapter of the National Marrow Donor Program. She also volunteers for the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts, an organization that helped her family after her father’s accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI volunteer to offer a different perspective, as traumatic brain injuries don\u2019t just impact the individual, but the entire family,\u201d said Doyle. \u201cI aspire to show those struggling with traumatic brain injuries that they are worthy of our forgiveness, while also helping family members feel less alone in the struggles they face.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With three younger siblings and years of teaching gymnastics to children ranging in age from 18 months old to 12 years old, Doyle would like to become a pediatric neurologist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA pediatric neurologist treats children with conditions that affect the brain, nerves, and spinal cord,\u201d said Doyle. \u201cSince many of these conditions are chronic, pediatric neurologists often follow patients over time, rather than just seeing them once, allowing them to build relationships with the child and their family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doyle will spend the next year gaining clinical research experience before enrolling in medical school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 12, 2025 \u2013 When Cailyn Doyle was only 2 years old, the trajectory of her life, and those of her family members, changed forever. Doyle\u2019s father, a police officer in their hometown of Wilbraham, Massachusetts, was struck by a drunk driver while on the job and suffered a severe traumatic brain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":102095,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102094"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102181,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102094\/revisions\/102181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}