Training Faculty for Neurosciences (NEU)

Program Directors: Stephen Salton, M.D., Ph.D., George W. Huntley, Ph.D.
Steering Committee: Cristina M. Alberini, Ph.D., Deanna Benson, Ph.D., Ehud Kaplan, Ph.D., John H. Morrison, Ph.D., Stuart Sealfon, M.D., Klaudiusz R. Weiss, Ph.D.

The goal of this graduate program is to provide a broad background in the field of neuroscience, from molecules to behavior, while allowing the student to focus on the research project in a specific area such as molecular neurobiology, neurochemistry, neuroendocrinology, neuroanatomy, and neurophysiology, among others.

Training Faculty

• Cristina M. Alberini, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Molecular mechanisms of long-term memory
  
• Deanna L. Benson, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: " Synapse Formation and Stabilization " Synapse Targeting " Cortical Axon Guidance " Fetal Alcohol Syndrome " Connectivity-Based Brain Disorders
  
• Andrew D. Bergemann, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Neural cell fate determination
  
• Robert D. Blitzer, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Synaptic plasticity; regulation of protein synthesis in CNS neurons; analysis of signaling networks
  
• Vladimir Brezina, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Biological control mechanisms
  
• Monte S. Buchsbaum, M.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Human brain imaging with positron emission tomography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and diffusion tensor imaging in normal subjects during neuropsychological tasks and in patients with schizophrenia, panic disorder, and other psychiatric illnesses.
  
• Joseph D. Buxbaum, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Molecular and cellular basis of Alzheimer's disease, autism, and schizophrenia
  
• Ross Cagan, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Drosophila disease and development models, cancer models including breast, lung, and thyroid, diabetes models including heart dysfunction, epithelial development including retinal patterning
  
• Bernard Cohen, M.D., Professor, Department of Neurology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: Vestibular control of natural movement in animals and humans, on earth and in space
  
• Elizabeth C. Cropper, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Neural basis of behavioral plasticity
  
• Lakshmi A. Devi, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: G-protein coupled receptor/signal transduction, opiate addiction and drug abuse mechanisms, neuropeptide biosynthesis and processing
  
• Maria A. Diverse-Pierluissi, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: G protein-mediated modulation of neuronal calcium influx
  
• Gregory A. Elder, M.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Biological basis of age-related neurodegenerative diseases
  
• Jin Fan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  
• Dan Felsenfeld, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Regulation of adhesion receptor function in axon guidance and cell migration
  
• Samuel E. Gandy, M.D., Professor, Department of Neurology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  
• Vahram Haroutunian, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Neurobiology of Alzheimer's disease and Schizophrenia
  
• Erin A. Hazlett, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Clinical Research; Translational Research
  Research: Imaging, Schizophrenia and Other Psychiatric Disorders, Anatomy and Neuroanatomy, Neurophysiology
  
• Patrick R. Hof, M.D., Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Experimental neuropathology, neurodegenerative disorders, brain aging; Functional anatomy of the cerebral cortex, comparative neuroanatomy; Computer-assisted morphometry, stereology, microscopy; Magnetic resonance microscopy, functional brain imaging
  
• Gay R. Holstein, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neurology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Neuronanatomical studies of functionally-defined central and peripheral vestibular system structures
  
• George W. Huntley, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: Development, Plasticity and Repair of Synaptic Circuit Structure and Function
  
• Yasmin Hurd, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Opioid neuropeptide, cannabinoid and dopamine neural systems in drug abuse
  
• Gareth R. John, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: CNS, glia, astrocyte, inflammation, injury, repair
  
• Ehud Kaplan, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Neurophysiology; visual neuroscience
  
• Emmanuel M. Landau, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Synaptic signaling and plasticity
  
• Zhongmin Ma, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Phospholipid signaling in pancreatic beta-cell function, apoptosis, and regeneration; cell membrane homeostasis and cell cycle checkpoint regulation; molecular pathogenesis of infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy
  
• Robert F. Margolskee, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Molecular, transgenic and structural techniques to study peripheral and central mechanisms of taste transduction and coding to determine how these pathways regulate gustatory behaviors in vivo
  
• Marianna Max, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: G-protein coupled receptors for sweet taste transduction.
  
• Kevin St.P. McNaught, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: The cause and mechanism of neuronal death in neurodegenerative disorders
  
• Marek Mlodzik, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Cell-cell interactions during epithelial and nervous system patterning: planar polarity establishment
  
• Charles V. Mobbs, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: Aging; obesity; diabetes; Alzheimer's disease; life extension; dietary restriction;
  
• Steven T. Moore, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: posture and gait; vestibular system; microgravity effects; Parkinson's disease (locomotor assessment)
  
• Susan Morgello, M.D., Professor, Department of Pathology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: hiv/aids; neuropathology; clinicopathologic correlates
  
• John H. Morrison, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: Neurobiology of aging, plasticity, and cortical organization. Steroid effects on cortical circuitry and function.
  
• Eric J. Nestler, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Molecular neurobiology of drug addiction and depression; transcriptional and epigenetic regulation in the brain.
  
• Giulio M. Pasinetti, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Neuronal Degeneration in Alzheimers Disease and Model System
  
• Greg R. Phillips, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Identification and characterization of synaptic adhesive and recognition proteins
  
• Stella Plevan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: 1. Role of Serotonin 2C Receptor mRNA Editing in Psychiatric Conditions (Suicide, Drug Addiction) 2. Molecular Abnormalities in the Brain of Schizophrenia Patients
  
• Isak Prohovnik, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Clinical Research; Translational Research
  Research: Functional & structural neuroimaging; CJD; AD
  
• Preeti Raghavan, M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Recovery of motor control after stroke, brain injury
  
• Nikolaos K. Robakis, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration; Signal transduction; aexpression, processing, and function of APP and presenilins
  
• Takeshi Sakurai, M.D. Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: My research interest has been how nervous system develops at the molecular level, i.e., molecular mechanisms of wiring and synapse formation, and how alterations in these processes lead to neurological and pscyhiatric disorders
  
• Stephen R.J. Salton, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Molecular neurobiology; neurotrophin signaling; novel neuropeptides and obesity; neural cell adhesion molecules
  
• Stuart C. Sealfon, M.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Neurology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Systems biology of cellular signaling specificity in response to drugs or viruses
  
• Matthew Shapiro, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Memory and brain: how experience alters activity and changes circuit function
  
• Pullanipally Shashidharan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neurology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Neurobiology of Dystonia, Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders
  
• Larry J. Siever, M.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: 1)Cognitive impairment and cognitive augmentation in the schizophrenia spectrum. 2)Serotonergic genetics and pharmacology and aggression in personality disorders.
  
• Jeremy M. Silverman, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Clinical Research
  Research: My group is especially focused on characterizing phenotypes and endophenotypes in schizophrenia, dementia, successful aging, and autism for use in molecular genetic studies.
  
• Lawrence Sirovich, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Image analysis; Mathematical modeling of various biomedical problems, and in particular the mammalian visual system
  
• Sergei Y. Sokol, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Cell polarity in vertebrate development, neural development, axis specification, Wnt signaling, morphogenetic movements, asymmetric cell division.
  
• Cheuk Y. Tang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Neurovascular Imaging Research and Molecular Imaging: the quest for biomarkers in diagnostic imaging
  
• Edmund B. Trexler, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Retinal processing of visual signals and synaptic adaptation to changing stimuli
  
• Rong Wang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Proteomics and biological mass spectrometry
  
• Klaudiusz R. Weiss, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Cellular and molecular neurobiology of behavior
  
• Pin-Xian Xu, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  
• Sergei Yakushin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Vestibular control of eye movements and locomotion
  
• Zhenyu Yue, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration; Molecular basis of Parkinson's Disease pathogenesis; Regulation of autophagy in neurons and its implication in axonal and neuronal degeneration.
  
• Qiang Zhou, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Synaptic and spine plasticity during neural development and degeneration