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Neuroscience Program Faculty

Program Director

Maria Chahrour, Ph.D.
Maria Chahrour, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Research Interests: Autism spectrum disorders, genetics of neurodevelopmental disorders, ubiquitin proteasome pathway

Faculty

Hume Akahori Stroud, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Epigenetics, neurological disorders, genome engineering, single-cell genomics

Hume Akahori Stroud, Ph.D.
Rachel Bailey, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Engineering adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors; Developing viral-mediated gene therapies for pediatric neurological disorders; developing gene therapies for Alzheimer’s and neurogenerative diseases; selective targeting of AAV vectors to the central and peripheral nervous systems; facilitating the translation of gene therapies to use in clinical trials

Rachel Bailey, Ph.D.
Ilya B. Bezprozvanny, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Calcium channels and calcium signaling in the nervous system; deranged calcium signaling and neurodegeneration in Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s disease

Ilya B. Bezprozvanny, Ph.D.
David Busch, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Biomedical engineering, Brain and spinal cord monitoring, Cerebral metabolism and hemodynamics, Diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS), Diffuse optical spectroscopy (DOS), Intraoperative neuromonitoring, Medical device development, Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), Non-invasive monitoring, Spinal cord hemodynamics

David Busch, Ph.D.
Seungwon Choi, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Somatosensation, pain and touch pathways, mouse genetics, in vitro and in vivo physiology, optogenetics

Seungwon Choi, Ph.D.
Anila D'Mello, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Cognitive neuroscience; language; cognition; social communication; fMRI; neuroimaging; autism spectrum disorders; development; cerebellum

Anila D'Mello, Ph.D.
William Dauer, M.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Motor function, dystonia, Parkinson’s disease, neural circuits, neurodegeneration

William Dauer, M.D.
Marc Diamond, M.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Mechanisms of amyloid propagation in neurodegenerative diseases, especially tauopathies (e.g. Alzheimer’s disease), synucleinopathies (e.g. Parkinson’s disease), and polyglutamine diseases (e.g. Huntington’s disease); linkage between amyloid structure and biological impact

Marc Diamond, M.D.
Peter Douglas, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Research Interests: Aging and stress response signaling in traumatic brain injury and neurodegeneration

Peter Douglas, Ph.D.
Joel Elmquist, D.V.M., Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Functional neuroanatomy of the mammalian hypothalamus

Joel Elmquist, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Jane Foster, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Behavioral neuroscience, microbiome, neuroimmunology, psychiatry, biomarkers, bioinformatics, animal models of disease, mental health

Jane Foster, Ph.D.
Zhongzheng Fu, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Brain-computer, interface, cognitive control, metacognition, motor control

Zhongzheng Fu, Ph.D.
Hirofumi Fujita, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Ataxia, Cerebellar anatomy, Cerebellar development

Hirofumi Fujita, M.D., Ph.D.
Dwight German, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, autism

Dwight German, Ph.D.
Carla Green, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms of circadian rhythms and how they control metabolism

Carla Green, Ph.D.
Robert W. Greene, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Circuit dysfunction in psychiatric disorders; role of adenosine in function of sleep

Robert W. Greene, M.D.
Daisuke Hattori, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Dissection of neural mechanisms that support integration of sensory information, memory, and internal state to guide behavior using a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses molecular genetics, neural recording, optogenetics, behavioral experiments, and computational modeling.

Daiske Hattori, Ph.D.
Joachim Herz, M.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Cell migration, survival, stress response, cancer

Maralice Conacci-Sorrell, Ph.D.
Donald W. Hilgemann, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Function and regulation of membrane transporters; electrophysiology; biophysics of ion pumps and channels

Donald W. Hilgemann, Ph.D.
Frederick Hitti, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests:Treatment Resistant Depression, Animal Models, Lateral Habenula, Systems Neuroscience

Frederick Hitti, M.D., Ph.D.
Kimberly M. Huber, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Mechanisms of synapse development, plasticity and circuit function, and alterations of these processes in mouse models of intellectual disability and autism

Kimberly Huber, Ph.D.
Jane E. Johnson, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Molecular control of neuronal diversity and balancing progenitor cell maintenance with neuronal differentiation in the vertebrate central nervous system implications for tumor progression in neural and neuroendocrine cancers

Jane Johnson, Ph.D.
Takashi Kitamura, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Research Interests: Neural circuit genetics, neural representation and memory engrams for learning and memory in entorhinal-hippocampal circuits of rodent brain under normal and psychotic conditions by applying in vivo calcium imaging, in vivo electrophysiology, viral-tracing and circuit manipulation

Takashi Kitamura, Ph.D.
Genevieve Konopka, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Neurodevelopmental signaling pathways involved in cognition and neuropsychiatric disorders; comparative gene expression for insight into human brain evolution

Genevieve Konopka, Ph.D.
Helmut J. Krämer, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Genetic dissection of endocytic trafficking in Drosophila

Helmut J. Kramer, Ph.D.
Helen Lai, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Research Interests: Connectivity and development of neuronal circuits generating somatosensation; molecular and functional diversity of spinal cord interneurons

elen Lai, Ph.D.
Bradley Lega, M.D.

Associate Professor

Research Interests: Memory encoding and retrieval; Restoring memory function after brain injury

Bradley Lega, M.D.
Nan Li, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Neuroimaging, MRI, dynamic brain connectivity, dopamine, astrocytes, reward and learning, neurovascular coupling

Nan Li, Ph.D.
Yingxi Lin, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Learning and Memory; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Neuronal Activity-dependent Gene Transcription; Experience-dependent Synaptic Modification; Neural Circuits; GABAergic Inhibitory Circuits; E/I Balance; Memory Discrimination and Generalization

Yingxi Lin, Ph.D.
Weichun Lin, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Developmental neurobiology, cellular and molecular basis of synapse formation, function, maintenance, and degeneration, using approaches including electrophysiology, genetics, and molecular biology.

Weichun Lin, Ph.D.
Chen Liu, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Research Interests: Cellular and functional diversity in the hypothalamus; 5-HT circuits underlying energy and glucose homeostasis; Fetal programming of obesity and diabetes

Chen Liu, Ph.D.
Ram Madabhushi, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Chromatin dynamics and epigenetic regulation of activity-dependent gene expression; the role of genomic instability in neurological disorders and cancer

Ram Madabhushi, Ph.D.
Berge Minassian, M.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Understanding the molecular basis of glycogen malformation in the fatal Lafora epilepsy and devising gene and small-molecule based therapies for this and other childhood neurogenetic disorders

Berge Minassian, M.D.
Jill Napierala, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Friedreich’s ataxia, chromatin and transcription regulation, repeat sequence instability, gene editing, mitochondrial dysfunction, induced pluripotent stem cell models of neurodegeneration, cerebellar function and degeneration

Jill Napierala, Ph.D.
Marek Napierala, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Friedreich’s ataxia, chromatin and transcription regulation, repeat sequence instability, gene editing, mitochondrial dysfunction, induced pluripotent stem cell models of neurodegeneration, cerebellar function and degeneration

Marek Napierala, Ph.D.
Felix Nitschke, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Regulatory mechanisms impacting structure, function and location of glycogen; Molecular consequences of glycogen storage diseases; Development of treatment strategies on molecular basis of the disease pathogenesis; Engineering proteins for improved Gene Therapy

Felix Nitschke, Ph.D.
Yuki Obata, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Neuro-immune interactions, intestinal neural circuits, host-microbial interactions, gut-brain axis and circadian clock

Yuki Obata, Ph.D.
Kyung Kevin Park, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Neuroprotection, CNS injury, neurodegenerative diseases, axon regeneration, CNS circuits

Kyung Kevin Park, Ph.D.
Juan Pascual, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Animal and cellular models of neurogenetic disorders; synaptic transmission in experimental epilepsies; disorders of brain energy metabolism; developmental neurobiology; genotype:phenotype correlations in novel childhood encephalopathies; clinical pediatric neurology

Juan Pascual, M.D., Ph.D.
Brad Pfeiffer, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Consolidation and recall of memory via large-scale, high-density in vivo recordings of neural activity during free behavior in rodents, focusing on spatial navigation as a specific example of more general memory formation and use

Brad Pfeiffer, Ph.D.
Allan-Hermann Pool, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Neural Circuits for Basic Biological Motivations, Pain, Pain Relief, Cell-type Targeted Gene Therapies

Allan-Hermann Pool, Ph.D.
Nader Pouratian, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Analyses of intracranial human neurophsyiology to investigate basic human neuroscientific principles of motor control, the pathophysiology of disease, and to develop novel stimulation-based therapeutics for human neuropsychiatric disease, including depression, OCD, and consciousness.

Nader Pouratian, M.D., Ph.D.
José Rizo-Rey (Josep Rizo), Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Biophysical studies of the mechanisms of neurotransmitter release and intracellular membrane fusion

Jose Rizo-Rey (Josep Rizo), Ph.D.
Todd Roberts, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Research Interests: Cellular and circuit mechanisms for vocal imitation, learning from vocal models, and using auditory feedback to learn from vocal practice

Todd Roberts, Ph.D.
Hitomi Sakano, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: FMRP, Fragile X, auditory development, hearing loss

Hitomi Sakano, M.D., Ph.D.
Steven Shabel, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Reward circuit function in animal models of depression and addiction

Steven Shabel, Ph.D.
Vikram Shakkottai, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Research Interests: Cerebellar ataxia, SCA, ion channels, neurodegeneration, selective neuronal vulnerability, potassium channels, Purkinje neurons

Vikram Shakkottai, M.D., Ph.D.
Lu Sun, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Neuron-glia interaction, oligodendrocyte, myelination, neurological disorders

Lu Sun, Ph.D.
Ruhma Syeda, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Mechanistic studies of volume sensors and mechanosensors, ion channel structure-function and related channelopathies

Ruhma Syeda, Ph.D.
Joseph Takahashi, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Molecular and genetic analysis of the mammalian circadian clock system

Joseph Takahashi, Ph.D.
Carol Tamminga, M.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Schizophrenia; postmortem brain; human brain imaging; human translational neuroscience

Carol Tamminga, M.D.
Jonathan Terman, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Axon growth and guidance; neuronal connectivity; axon regeneration; actin cytoskeleton; spinal cord injury and degeneration

Jonathan Terman, Ph.D.
Peter Tsai, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Research Interests: Molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the formation of neuronal circuits responsible for cognition and behavior

Peter Tsai, M.D., Ph.D.
Supraja Varadarajan, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: CNS injury and diseases, axon regeneration, neural circuit connectivity, vision restoration, neuron-glia interaction

Supraja Varadarajan, Ph.D.
Lenora Volk, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Elucidating the molecular, synaptic, and circuit mechanisms underlying memory persistence

Lenora Volk, Ph.D.
Yingfei Wang, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Research Interests: Mitochondrial dysfunction, neurodegeneration and PARP-1-dependent cell death (PARthanatos) in Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and traumatic brain injury

Yingfei Wang, Ph.D.
Jeffrey Waugh, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Research Interests: Movement Disorders, dystonia, motor control, dopamine, striatum, human development, MRI, diffusion imaging, deep brain stimulation

Jeffrey Waugh, M.D., Ph.D.
Katherine Wert, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Inherited retinal degenerations, stem cell biology, gene editing, gene therapy, mouse models of ocular disease, metabolism and metabolic reprogramming, photoreceptor cells, genetic mechanisms of disease

Katherine Wert, Ph.D.
Kevin Williams, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Research Interests: Understanding at a cellular level the neural of control energy balance as well as glucose metabolism, and elucidating how these events may participate in human disease

Kevin Williams, Ph.D.
Jiang Wu, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Research Interests: Chromatin regulation of mammalian neural development; function of chromatin remodeling complexes in key signaling pathways that regulate neural stem cell self-renewal, differentiation, and post-mitotic neuronal development

Jiang Wu, Ph.D.
Wei Xu, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Mechanistic understanding of fundamental cognitive processes including memory and brain executive controls whose dysfunction is implicated in multiple neuropsychiatry disorders

Wei Xu, Ph.D.
Jun Yamamoto, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: High-density large-scale neural recordings in psychosis model mice; translational human recordings/data analysis in psychotic patients

Jun Yamamoto, Ph.D.
Gang G. Yu, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Molecular and cellular mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease and neurodegenerative disorders

Gang Yu, Ph.D.
Chun-Li Zhang, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Transcriptional regulation of neural stem cells and their role in regeneration and brain tumors

Chun-Li Zhang, Ph.D.
Wenhao Zhang, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Computational Neuroscience

Wenhao Zhang, Ph.D.
Jeffrey Zigman, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Gut-brain axis hormones and neuronal circuits underlying obesity, diabetes, hypoglycemia, cancer cachexia, ALS, and learning/memory

Jeffrey Zigman, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Members

These faculty members do not accept graduate students. They participate in teaching, co-mentoring, exam and dissertation committees, and all other program responsibilities.

Bret Evers, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Pathology; comparative histopathology; neuropathology; developmental biology; ophthalmic pathology

Bret Evers, M.D., Ph.D.
Laurent Gautron, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Stem cells, intestine, developmental biology, gastrointestinal physiology, gastrointestinal cancer

Laurent Gautron, Ph.D..
Jay Gibson, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Electrophysiology, neuronal circuits in neocortex, and neuroscience

Jay Gibson, Ph.D.
Janine Prange-Kiel, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Research Interests: Locally produced estradiol has been demonstrated to be important for the regulation of synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. However, very little is known about the factors that regulate the expression of aromatase, the enzyme that converts testosterone into estradiol, in the brain. Our lab uses cell culture techniques and molecular approaches to learn more about the regulation of aromatase expression in the hippocampus of rats and mice.

Janine Prange-Kiel, Ph.D.
Evan Noch, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Dietary and nutritional targeting of glioma, mouse models of brain tumors, mitochondrial and anti-oxidant metabolism, redox and growth factor signaling

Evan Noch, M.D., Ph.D.
Amy Proskovec, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Magnetoencephalography (MEG), neural oscillations, aging, cognition, cognitive impairment, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Amy Proskovec, Ph.D.
Denise Ramirez, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Research Interests: 3D reconstruction; Connectomics, Digital Pathology, Histology, Image Analysis, Neuroscience, Serial Two-Photon Tomography, Stroke, Volumetric Imaging

Denise Ramirez, Ph.D.
Shin Yamazaki, Ph.D.

Professor

Research Interests: Circadian Physiology; Feeding and Light Entrainment of the Circadian System; Live Cell/Tissue Real-Time Imaging; Mouse Models for Human Disorders Caused by Disruption/Disorganization/Misalignment of the Circadian System; Neural Circuit Controlling Feeding and Locomotor Activity Rhythms; Pacemaker Coupling

Shin Yamazaki, Ph.D.