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Christopher Cowan, PhD
Contact Information
UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390
Office Phone: 214-648-1174
Office Fax: 214-648-1139
Biography
Dr. Cowan began his interest in nervous system development and function as an undergraduate student at Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) in the lab of Professor David Adams, PhD. He studied the neuronal basis of aggression in rats using primary behavioral assays and pharmacological manipulation of relevant brain regions.
In 1994, he attended graduate school at Baylor College of Medicine in the lab of Professor Ted Wensel, PhD. In his PhD thesis work, Dr. Cowan and his colleagues identified and characterized the GTPase accelerating protein (GAP), RGS9, as an essential regulator of the inactivation phase of the rod photoreceptor light response.
During his postdoctoral training in Michael E. Greenberg’s lab (Harvard Medical School), Chris explored molecular signaling mechanisms that underlie neuronal connectivity during brain development. He focused on two key aspects of neuronal connectivity: (1) axon guidance and (2) synapse formation/remodeling.
Since joining the UT Southwestern faculty in 2005, the Cowan lab has been studying the role and regulation of neuronal activity-dependent gene expression in the context of synaptic development and plasticity, with a major interest in pathological behavioral adaptations associated with drug addiction and depression in the adult brain. In addition, Dr. Cowan's lab studies brain and retinal development, which they have linked to Autism spectrum disorders and learning and memory.
Education
| Graduate School | Baylor College of Medicine (1998) |
Research Interests
Publications
Makoto Taniguchi, Maria B. Carreira, Laura N. Smith, Benjamin C. Zirlin, Rachael L. Neve, and Christopher W. Cowan, Neuron, in press;
*Flavell SW, *Cowan CW, Kim TK, Greer PL, Lin Y, Paradis S, Griffith EC, Hu LS, Chen C, Greenberg ME , Science , February 2006; (311):1008-12. (*authors contributed equally)
Suprabha Pulipparacharuvil, William Renthal, Carly F. Hale, Makoto Taniguchi, Guanghua Xiao, Arvind Kumar, Scott J. Russo, Devanjan Sikder, Colleen M. Dewey, Maya M. Davis, Paul Greengard, Angus C. Nairn, Eric J. Nestler, and Christopher W. Cowan , Neuron , August 2008; (59):621-33
Hale, C.F., Dietz, K.C., Varela, J.A., Wood, C.B., Zirlin, B.C., Leverich, L.S., Greene, R.W., Cowan, C.W. , Journal of Neuroscience, 2011; 31 (35):12426-36
Pfeiffer BE, Zang T, Wilkerson J, Taniguchi M, Maksimova MA, Smith, LN Cowan CW, Huber KM , Neuron , 2010; (66):191-97
*He W, *Cowan CW, Wensel TG , Neuron , January 1998; (20(1)):95-102. (*Authors contributed equally)
Cowan CW, Shao YR, Sahin M, Shamah SM, Lin MZ, Greer PL, Gao S, Griffith EC, Brugge JS, Greenberg ME , Neuron , April 2005; (46(2)):205-17
Related Links
Books
Kang Shen and Christopher Cowan, Cold Spring Harbor Press2010
Honors/Awards
American College of Neuropsychopharmacologists Annual meeting award (2010)
(2006)
Individual National Research Service Award, NIA/NIH (2000)
Lefler Center for the Study of Neurodegenerative Disorders, Harvard Medical School (1999)
Graduate Student Research Symposium, Baylor College of Medicine (1998)