Andy AFRIFA

Title: Postbac IRTA

Office(s): Health Disparities Research Section (HDRS)

Email Address: andy.afrifa@nih.gov

Biography

Mr. Afrifa graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2021, which is Bachelor of Science in Biology, with background in chemistry and math. He worked in Jacobs’ Lab, focusing on the GABAergic interneurons specifically Chandelier Cells of Post Mild-Traumatic Brain Injuries (mTBI). Later in the year, joined Gearhart’s Lab within the Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Immunology. Currently, Mr. Afrifa is testing the hypothesis that antibodies in human sera can serve as biomarkers of atherosclerosis. He will assist a graduate student in identifying and synthesizing novel antigens that have been identified by proteome microarrays. He will use them to test for the presence of antibodies by ELISA assays using sera from (1) the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging and (2) patients with peripheral arterial disease.