Jeffrey Bryan Carroll is an American scientific researcher in the field of

Huntington's disease Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is an incurable neurodegenerative disease that is mostly Genetic disorder#Autosomal dominant, inherited. It typically presents as a triad of progressive psychiatric, cognitive, and ...

(HD). As a carrier of the abnormal gene that causes HD, he is also a public advocate for families affected by the disease, and co-founder of the HD research news platform HDBuzz. His life and work were the subject of a 2011

Gemini award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

-nominated

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

documentary feature. Carroll is an associate professor of

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

in the Department of Biology at the University of Washington

Early life and family history

Born in Seattle on August 18, 1977, to parents Cindy and Jim, Carroll is one of six siblings. He joined the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

in 1998, serving in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. While serving in the army, Carroll's mother was diagnosed as suffering from

(HD), a fatal, incurable, genetically inherited neurodegenerative illness. Learning that he and his siblings were each at 50% risk of having inherited the genetic abnormality that causes HD, and having no scientific background, Carroll enrolled in an Army-sponsored basic biology course, initiating a career as a

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist specializing in neuroscience that deals with the anatomy and function of neurons, Biological neural network, neural circuits, and glia, and their Behavior, behavioral, biological, and psycholo ...

. Carroll underwent

genetic testing Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

for

in 2003 and received a positive result, indicating that he will succumb to the disease at some time, unless effective treatments are found.

Scientific career

On leaving the US Army in 2001, Carroll joined an undergraduate biology program at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, followed by a doctoral program in UBC's Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics in the laboratory of Dr Michael Hayden. Carroll gained a PhD in 2010 for his research into Huntington's disease, including work on the YAC128 HD

mouse model A model organism is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Mod ...

, the role of

caspase 6 Caspase-6 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''CASP6'' gene. ''CASP6'' orthologs have been identified in numerous mammals for which complete genome data are available. Unique orthologs are also present in birds, lizards, lissamphibians, ...

in HD, genetic variation in the human HD gene and the potential of

allele An allele is a variant of the sequence of nucleotides at a particular location, or Locus (genetics), locus, on a DNA molecule. Alleles can differ at a single position through Single-nucleotide polymorphism, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), ...

-specific

gene silencing Gene silencing is the regulation of gene expression in a cell to prevent the expression of a certain gene. Gene silencing can occur during either Transcription (genetics), transcription or Translation (biology), translation and is often used in res ...

using

antisense oligonucleotide Oligonucleotides are short DNA or RNA molecules, oligomers, that have a wide range of applications in genetic testing, research, and forensics. Commonly made in the laboratory by solid-phase chemical synthesis, these small fragments of nucleic aci ...

s as a treatment for the condition. As a postdoctoral researcher, Carroll worked in the laboratory of Dr Marcy MacDonald at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

metabolic Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the ...

abnormalities in Huntington's disease before moving to

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...

in 2011 where he is a visiting professor in the Department of Psychology and continues to conduct research into Huntington's disease. In 2022, he moved as associate professor at the Department of Neurology in the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Huntington's disease advocacy

As a carrier of the gene that inevitably causes the fatal condition that forms the subject of his scientific research, Carroll is a frequent speaker at scientific and patient conferences and congresses, on issues relating to living at risk of HD, the mutual interdependence of science and patient communities,

preimplantation genetic diagnosis Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD or PIGD) is the genetic profiling of embryos prior to implantation (as a form of embryo profiling), and sometimes even of oocytes prior to fertilization. PGD is considered in a similar fashion to prenatal ...

and the controversial issue of predictive genetic testing for HD. He delivered keynote addresses at the 2009 World Congress on Huntington's Disease in Vancouver and the 2010 Annual Convention of the

Huntington's Disease Society of America The Huntington's Disease Society of America is a US non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by Huntington's disease, an incurable, genetically transmitted degenerative disease of the nervous system that affect ...

. Carroll is also a prominent scientific educator and an advocate for accessible education of the public by scientists. In an editorial in the scientific journal Trends in Molecular Medicine, he argued that "accurately communicating research to the affected community is a moral obligation of the scientific community ... a work of science isn't complete until this has been done." Alongside clinical researcher Dr Ed Wild and

Emmy award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

-winning journalist and HD patient advocate Charles Sabine, Carroll has delivered plain-language digests of research news for patients and family members at major scientific conferences, including the 2009 and 2011 World Congresses on Huntington's Disease in

and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, and the 2010 European Huntington's Disease Network Annual Congress. In 2010, Carroll's life, work and family were the subject of an episode of the

CBC News Network CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It is Canada's first all-news channel, and the world's third-oldest television service of this ...

documentary '' Connect with Mark Kelley'', entitled "Fighting Huntington's disease". The episode was nominated for a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

for 'Best Lifestyle/Practical Information Segment'. In 2011, with financial support from the national Huntington's disease lay organizations of the US, Canada, England & Wales, Scotland and Germany, Carroll and Wild co-founded HDBuzz, an online source of accessible news about Huntington's disease research, written by scientists. HDBuzz was awarded the HD Association of Northern Ireland's 2011 Award for Scientific Communication and the 2012 Michael Wright Community Development Award from the

Huntington Society of Canada The Huntington Society of Canada (HSC) (French: ''Société Huntington du Canada, SHC'') is a non-profit organisation that supports people in Canada affected by the genetic neurodegenerative brain condition Huntington's disease (HD). The HSC was f ...

. HDBuzz was the subject of an article in the scientific journal ''

Trends in Molecular Medicine A fad, trend, or craze is any form of collective behavior that develops within a culture, a generation, or social group in which a group of people enthusiastically follow an impulse for a short time period. Fads are objects or behaviors that a ...

'' in October 2011 entitled 'HDBuzz: empowering patients through accessible education'. Carroll's life, family and research were the subject of the 2012 documentary feature film ''Do You Really Want to Know?'', directed by

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-winning Canadian film maker

John Zaritsky John Zaritsky (13 July 1943 – 30 March 2022) was a Canadian documentarian/filmmaker. His work has been broadcast in 35 countries and screened at more than 40 film festivals around the world; in 1983, his film ''Just Another Missing Kid'' wo ...

and screened at the

DOXA Documentary Film Festival The DOXA Documentary Film Festival is a documentary film festival based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is held annually held for 10 days in May, and is presented by The Documentary Media Society, a non-profit organization. The festiv ...

. The film won several awards, including Best Documentary at the 2012

Okanagan Film Festival The Okanagan ( ), also called the Okanagan Valley and sometimes the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part of t ...

, Best Science / Medicine Technology Documentary and Best Non-fiction Director at the 2012

Yorkton Film Festival Yorkton Film Festival (YFF) is an annual film festival held in late May in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1947, the Yorkton Film Council (YFC) was founded and in 1950 the first international documentary film festival officially opened in we ...

and Best Science / Technology Film at the 2012

Columbus International Film Festival The Columbus International Film + Animation Festival is a Columbus, Ohio, United States annual film festival which is designed to encourage and promote the use of film and video in all forms of education and communication. It is the first and o ...

. Carroll was also the subject of a November 2012 feature on CBC radio show '' DNTO''. Along with HDBuzz co-founder Dr Ed Wild, Carroll received the 2012 Michael Wright Community Development Award from the

Family life

Carroll lives in

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

with his wife Megan and two children, Raven and Elijah (born June 27, 2006), non-identical twins born through

in-vitro fertilization In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation in which an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating the ovulatory process, then removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from t ...

using

pre-implantation genetic diagnosis Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD or PIGD) is the genetic profiling of embryos prior to implantation (as a form of embryo profiling), and sometimes even of oocytes prior to fertilization. PGD is considered in a similar fashion to prenatal ...

to ensure that they did not inherit a risk of Huntington's disease.

References

External links

HDBuzz, Carroll's Huntington's disease research news platform

Carroll Lab - Western Washington University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Jeff Huntington's disease American neuroscientists Living people Harvard University alumni University of British Columbia Faculty of Science alumni 1977 births Western Washington University faculty Scientists from Bellingham, Washington Academics from Bellingham, Washington