Faculty and Research Areas

• John M. Aletta, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  The role of protein arginine methylation in signal transduction mechanisms leading to neuronal differentiation.
• Anthony L. Auerbach, Ph.D., Professor
  Structure and function of synaptic receptor ion channels, including mechanisms of gating and permeation.
• Joan S. Baizer, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  Effects of methylphenidate (Ritalin) on gene expression in the rat brain; compartmentalorganization of the vestibular nuclear complex in cat and monkey; structure- function correlates in human neocortex;cell types and compartmental organization in cat claustrum.
• Beverly Bishop, Ph.D., Distinguished Teaching Professor
  University of Buffalo Hypoxia's effects on circadian temperature and motor activity.
• Kenneth Blumenthal, Ph.D., Professor
  Peptide Toxin Probes of Ion Channel Function and Architecture.
• Kathleen M. Boje, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  The neuroinflammatory processes in of chronic neurodegenerative diseases; toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics of gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB).
• Micheal Bozarth, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  Biological basis of appetitive motivation and reward, specifically
  psychomotor stimulant and opioid effects; other interests include drug
  addiction and motivational theory.
• Robert Burkard, Ph.D., Professor
  Auditory evoked potentials, physiologic manifestations of auditory masking, auditory adaptation, acoustics and sound measurements, digital signal processing, and comparative studies of hearing.
• Christopher S. Cohan, Ph.D., Professor
  Cytoskeletal mechanisms of axon guidance and growth cone motility.
• Derek Daniels, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania, 2001.
  Neuroanatomy and biochemistry underlying the regulation of food, water, and salt intake.
• Michael L. Dent, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  Behavioral and physiological studies on the perception
  of complex sounds in birds and small mammals.
• Arthur M. Edelman, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  Protein phosphorylation signaling in neuronal function and development.
• Leonard H. Epstein, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor
  Behavioral economics, behavioral factors in appetite and activityregulation, food and activity reinforcement, role of dopamine in foodreward, habituation and appetite regulation, and the translation oflaboratory paradigms to clinical interventions.
• Jian Feng, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  The in vivo function of parkin and its role in Parkinson's disease.
• Denise Ferkey Ph.D.
  Regulatory mechanisms that control animal behavior. Using C. elegans sensory behavior (e.g. chemosensation) as a model, study of the regulation of G protein-coupled signal transduction pathways as well as the mechanisms by which the neurotransmitter dopamine modulates signaling and behavior.
• Federico Gonzalez-Fernandez, M.D., Ph.D.
  Role of extracellular matrix in mediating interactions between the rod andcone photoreceptors, and the pigment epithelium and Muller cell glia of the retina.
• Richard M. Gronostajski, Ph.D., Professor
  Nuclear Factor I (NFI) transcription factor regulation of brain and muscle development.
• Kenneth Gross, Ph.D.
  Regulation of Tissue Specific Gene Expression/ Mouse Models of Disease.
• Samir Haj-Dahmane, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist
  Ph.D in Neuroscience (1993) University of Piere and Marie Curie, Paris, France.
  Research Interests: G-Protein coupled receptor singaling mechanisms and the regulation of membrane excitability, synaptic transmission and plastcity in the central nervous system.
• Stanley W. Halvorsen, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  Role of neurokines in development of nerve-nerve and nerve-target systems and in neurodegenerative diseases.
• Todd M. Hennessey, Ph.D., Professor,
  Comparative cellular neurobiology using unicellular eukaryotes as models for excitable sensory cells.
• Linda Hershey, M.D.
  Neurological diseases diagnostics
• Parsa Kazemi-Esfarjani, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  enetic modifiers of polyglutamine toxicity in neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington's disease
• Shahrokh Khani, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  Molecular mechanisms in vertebrate phototransduction.
• Mark Kristal, Ph.D., Professor
  Physiological bases of motivated behavior (especially reproduction and ingestion); neural and endocrine basis of maternal behavior in mammals; functions of the hypothalamus; opioid systems and maternal behavior, parturition, and antinociception.
• Alan H. Lockwood, M.D., Professor
  Use of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to map and analyze neural systems.
• Kathryn Medler, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  Regulation of cell signaling pathways in taste cells.
• Hui Meng, Ph.D., Professor
  Neurovascular pathobiology, intracranial aneurysm pathogenesis and intervention, hemodynamics, bioengineering.
• Mulchand S. Patel, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Dean
  Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex deficiency (energy-deficit) and brain development. Diet-induced obesity and metabolic programming of the hypothalamus in early postnatal life.
• Kirkwood Personius, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  Influence of neuronal activity on synaptic connections between nerve and muscle during development and disease.
• Brian Pierchala, Assistant Professor
  My laboratory investigates the functions of the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) family and their receptor, Ret, in the development and maintenance of the nervous system. The potential involvement and therapeutic use of neurotrophic factors are also being investigated for neurodegenerative diseases.
• Robert J. Plunkett, M.D., Associate Professor
  Two areas of active investigation: novel strategies to control malignant brain tumors and characterization of neural stem cells and progenitor cells in mice.
• Gabriela Popescu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  NMDA receptors: activation mechanism; modulation by physiologic and pharmacologic agents; role in synaptic plasticity and neurodegeneration.
• Feng Qin, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  Structural and functional mechanisms of ion channels in thermal and pain perception.
• Richard A. Rabin, Ph.D., Professor
  Action of drugs of abuse including alcohol and hallucinogenic drugs.
• Randall Rasmussen, Ph.D., Professor
  Structure-function of voltage-gated channels.
• Jerome A. Roth, Ph.D., Professsor
  Heavy metal neurotoxicity, with a focus on iron and manganese, and dystonic movements associated with Parkinson's disease.
• Stephen Rudin, Ph.D., Professor
  Diagnostic and interventional neurovascular imaging in the brain including microangiography and micro computed tomography and development of endovascular devices such as stents and catheters for treatment of aneurysms and other cerebrovascular malformations.
• Richard J. Salvi, Ph.D., Professor
  Anatomy and physiology of the auditory system, stem cell transplantation,animal psychophysics and PET imaging in normal hearing and hearing impaired subjects.
• Gail Seigel, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  Ocular Engineering: use of precursor cells and neuroprotective agents in retinal degeneration.
• Roh-Yu Shen, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist
  Brain dopamine systems, alcohol craving, and fetal alcohol syndrome
• Randall Shortridge, Ph.D., Associate Professor
• David W. Shucard, Ph.D., Professor and
  Janet L. Shucard, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  Cognitive/ behavioral neuroscience and neuropsychology with an emphasis on the use of event-related brain potentials in animals and humans in the study of normal cognitive functions (e.g., working memory) and cognitive functions affected by disease.
• Satpal Singh, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  The genetics of ion channels, using the Drosophila model system.
• Malcolm M. Slaughter, Ph.D., Professor
  Role of ion channels and transmitter receptors in synaptic function and information processing in retina.
• Adnan H. Siddiqui, M.D., Ph.D,
  Develop and test hypotheses regarding cerebrovascular pathologies such as brain aneurysms and atherosclerotic disease. Deciphering neuronal plasticity and the roles it plays in normal cortical function as well as its contribution towards recovery of function after focal neuronal injury or dysfunction causing epilepsy.
• Michal K. Stachowiak, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  Regulation of glial and neuronal development and plasticity by growth factors, and gene therapy for neurodegenerative disorders.
• Susan Udin, Ph.D., Professor
  Multidisciplinary approach to development, plasticity, and neural circuitry in the visual system.
• Scott Wersinger, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  Molecular basis of motivation and emotion, molecular genetics, behavioral neuroendocrinology.
  
• Jerrold C. Winter, Ph.D., Professor
  Behavioral pharmacology of psychoactive drugs, including psychotherapeutic agents and drugs of abuse; mechanisms of action of hallucinogens
• Matthew A. Xu-Friedman, Assistant Professor
  Synaptic physiology in the auditory brainstem; activity- and neuromodulator-dependent synaptic plasticities and their functional implications
• Zhen Yan, Ph.D., Professor
  Research interest is discovering molecular and cellular mechanisms for the regulation of ion channels and synaptic transmission by neuromodulator signaling in CNS neurons and developing new pharmacological agents for the treatment of neurological disorders.