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Neuroscience Faculty

Faculty Departments

Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Emergency Medicine
Internal Medicine
Munroe-Meyer Institute
Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

Pathology and Microbiology
Pediatrics
Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
Radiology

Please click on a research topic to learn more:

Neurodegeneration
Neuroinfection
Neurophysiology and Retinal Neurobiology
CNS Dysfunction in Cardiovascular Disease
Cognitive Function in Disorders and Aging

Faculty

Neurodegeneration
	Aviva Abosch, MD, PhD Professor, Department of Neurosurgery Research focus: Human subject research for patients with epilepsy and Parkinson's disease; Neuromodulation of central nervous system pathways; Sleep; Central nervous system electrophysiology.
	Iqbal Ahmad, PhD Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Research focus: Stem cell biology and modeling neurodegeneration.
	Howard S. Fox, MD, PhD Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Neurodegeneration, brain dysfunction and viral infections of the brain.
	Howard E. Gendelman, MD Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Development and testing of HIV-1 cure strategies; Basic and clinical studies on novel medicines to treat Parkinson's disease.
	Channabasavaiah Gurumurthy, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Development and improvement of transgenic and genome editing technologies; development of versatile animal model resources and tools.
	Guoku Hu, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: NIH and drug abuse synergy, exomes, noncoding RNAs.
	Yutong Liu, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Radiology Research focus: Neuroimaging and image processing.
	R. Lee Mosley, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Regulation of T Lymphocyte function; T cell-mediated immunity in neurodegenerative disorders.
	Robert B. Norgren, PhD Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology & Anatomy Research focus: Use of nonhuman primate genomics to better understand human genetic disease.
	Gurudutt N. Pendyala, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology Research focus: Animal models of addication, sex differences in drug abuse; Synaptic biology; Epigenetic regulation, role of microRNAs at the synapse in drug addiction, mechanisms and role in gene regulation; Prenatal drug exposure and synaptic development; Integrative Systems Biology approach to understand synaptic aberrations in chronic drug abuse; High input technolgies-genomics, mass spectrometry-based proteomics and metabolomics.
	Vaishali Phatak, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Neuropsychology - Traumatic Brain Injury; Memory; Dementia; Stroke and neurodegenerative disorders.
	Larisa Poluektova, MD, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Pathogenesis and treatment of HIV-1 associated dementia; translational mouse models for human-specific diseases.
	Susmita Sil, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Role of long non-coding RNAs and extracellular vesicles in different neurodegenerative diseases, including HIV associated neurological disorders and Alzheimer’s Disease, as well as dementia in drug addicts.
	Kelly Stauch, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Role of mitochondrial dysfunction and altered energy metabolism in the context of neurodegerative diseases and aging.
	Paul Trippier, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Research focus: Small molecule drug discovery for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
	Matthew Van Hook, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Research focus: Influence of neudegenerative disease of the visual system (i.e. glaucoma) on the function of neurons and synapses in the brain and retina.
	Sowmya Yelamanchili, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology Research focus: MicroRNAs in neurodegenerative diseases, HIV, Parkinson's Disease.
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Neuroinfection
	Aditya Bade, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: HIV pathogenesis, antiretroviral therapy (ART) and ART associated toxicity using murine and in vitro models.
	Shilpa Buch, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Therapeutic strategies that may enhance neural function and survival in NeuroAIDS, with possible implications in other neurodegenerative diseases.
	Siddappa Byrareddy, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Understanding host-virus dynamics using molecular biology, virology, immunology, systems biology, and genomic tools to develop prevention strategies for HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, such as Zika virus.
	Benson Edagwa, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Design, development and evaluation of antiretroviral prodrugs, development of long acting slow effective release ART (LASER ART) and their application to testing in cell and small animal based assays.
	Howard S. Fox, MD, PhD Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Neurodegeneration, brain dysfunction and viral infections of the brain.
	Howard E. Gendelman, MD Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Development and testing of HIV-1 cure strategies; Basic and clinical studies on novel medicines to treat Parkinson's disease.
	Santhi Gorantla, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Mouse models for HIV; humanized mouse model to study HIV vaccine strategies to induce protective immune responses and immune-based therapeutics to enhance HIV immune responses; HIV pathogenesis.
	Corey Hopkins, PhD Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences Research focus: Design, synthesis and optimization of biologically active small molecules as in vivo probes, drug discovery lead compounds and preclinical candidates.
	Georgette D. Kanmogne, PhD, MPH Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: HIV/AIDS, vascular biology and cell signaling.
	Tammy L. Kielian, PhD Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology Research focus: Host-pathogen interactions, immunology, neuroimmunology, translational therapeutics.
	Palsamy Periyasamy, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Investigate the epigenetic changes that occur during HIV-1 infection and drug abuse, leading to glial cells (microglia and astrocytes) activation; identify potential therapeutic strategies for HAND treatment.
	Larisa Poluektova, MD, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Pathogenesis and treatment of HIV-1 associated dementia; translational mouse models for human-specific diseases.
	Huangui Xiong, MD, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Molecular and cellular underlying HIV-1 associated neurocognitive disorders, focusing on the roles played by NMDA receptors and voltage-gated K channels.
	Sowmya Yelamanchili, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology Research focus: MicroRNAs in neurodegenerative diseases, HIV, Parkinson's Disease.
	Siwei Zhao, PhD Assistant Professor, Regenerative Medicine Research focus: Developing novel electrical engineering technologies to facilitate localized drug delivery, chronic wound healing and neural/muscular rehabilitation after peripheral nerve injury.
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Neurophysiology and Retinal Neurobiology
	Aviva Abosch, MD, PhD Professor, Department of Neurosurgery Research focus: Human subject research for patients with epilepsy and Parkinson's disease; Neuromodulation of central nervous system pathways; Sleep; Central nervous system electrophysiology.
	Iqbal Ahmad, PhD Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Research focus: Stem cell biology and modeling neurodegeneration.
	Valentina Gumenyuk, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Spatial dynamic and multi-modal measures of the changes in the brain networks, including pathological networks in epilepsy.
	Yutong Liu, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Radiology Research focus: Neuroimaging and image processing.
	Wallace B. Thoreson, PhD Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Research focus: Visual information processing by the retina; electrophysiology and optical imaging techniques to study transmission at ribbon synapses of rod and cone photoreceptors.
	Matthew Van Hook, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Research focus: Influence of neudegenerative disease of the visual system (i.e. glaucoma) on the function of neurons and synapses in the brain and retina.
	David Warren, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Cognitive neuroscience investigations of cognition (especially memory) and related brain networks that combine neuroimaging, neuropsychological, and neurostimulation methods.
	Peng Zhong, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Relationship between sleep disturbance and neurodegenerative disorders to learn how to repair the diseased nervous systems.
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CNS Dysfunction in Cardiovascular Disease
	Aviva Abosch, MD, PhD Professor, Department of Neurosurgery Research focus: Human subject research for patients with epilepsy and Parkinson's disease; Neuromodulation of central nervous system pathways; Sleep; Central nervous system electrophysiology.
	Keshore Bidasee, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for cardiovascular complications in individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM), and identify therapeutic strategies that could be used to slow their progression.
	Cyrus Desouza, MBBS Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism (DEM) Research focus: Improving outcomes in diabetes and obesity patients using treatment algorithms; mechanisms of diabetes and metabolic syndrome on vascular and barin function.
	Bin Duan, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Cardiology Research focus: Integrate novel biomaterials, advanced biofabrication of tissue engineering to create multi-scale complexity within engineered tissue to understand the fundamentals of cell-material interactions and mimic the native tissue for tissue regeneration.
	Yulong Li, MD Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology Research focus: Dysfunction of baroreceptor neurons in heart failure and diabetes: cellular and molecular mechanisms.
	Harold D. Schultz, PhD Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology Research focus: Sensory and motor functions of the autonomic nervous system.
	Matthew C. Zimmerman, PhD Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology Research focus: Role of reactive oxygen species and redox signaling in the brain in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease; utilization of nanoformulated antioxidants for the improved treatment of cardiovascular disease.
	Irving H. Zucker, PhD Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology Research focus: Neural control of cardiovascular function; heart failure; hypertension; sympathetic function.
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Cognitive Function in Disorders and Aging
	Josue Avecillas-Chasin, MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery Research focus: Detailed description of the brain circuits and how this will impact our neuromodulation techniques when applied in a personalized manner.
	Jennifer Blackford, PhD Professor, Munroe-Meyer Institute Research focus: Understanding the neural basis of anxiety, including mapping the basic neurocircuitry of anxiety, studies of anxiety neurobiology in children, and studies examining the role of anxiety in psychiatric disorders including PTSC, alcohol use disorders, and schizophrenia.
	Anna Dunaevsky, PhD Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Synaptic plasticity and neuron-glia interactions in neurocognitive disorders.
	Matthew Garlinghouse, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Resting State functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rsfMRI), Task-based functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), Volumetric Analysis, Impact of drug of abuse on brain struction/function, and impact of cancer treatment on cognition.
	Daniel Gih, MD Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry Research focus: Severe mood disorders in adolescents; electroconvulsive therapy; eating disorders.
	Stephen Gliske, PhD AssociateProfessor, Department of Neurosurgery Research focus: Assessment of epileptic tissue/networks to help guide resective surgery, monitoring of neonatal sleep, and analysis of microelectrode recordings to understand interactions between sleep and movement disorders disease and treatment.
	Channabasavaiah Gurumurthy, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Development and improvement of transgenic and genome editing technologies; development of versatile animal model resources and tools.
	Guoku Hu, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: NIH and drug abuse synergy, exosomes, noncoding RNAs.
	Zeljka Korade, DVM, PhD Professor, Department of Pediatrics Research focus: Cholesterol metabolism in the central nervous system; study of an inborn error of metabolism Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome; desmosterolosis; development of neuronal cell lines with defects in different enzymes of cholesterol biosynthesis pathway and their characterization.
	Pamela May, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Neuropsychology of movement disorders, HIV and memory disorders.
	Karoly Mirnics, MD, PhD Director, Munroe-Meyer Institute Research focus: Animal models of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders; effects of Gene-Environmental-Drug interactions on the developing brain; role of disrupted cholesterol biosynthesis of brain function - all using genetic, molecular, cellular and biochemical tools in our studies, coupled with drug screening and mouse behavioral assessments.
	Daniel T. Monaghan, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Development of drugs for modulating NMDA receptor activity for treating schizophrenia and autism.
	Robert B. Norgren, PhD Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy Research focus: Use of nonhuman primate genomics to better understand human genetic disease.
	Kaushik P. Patel, PhD Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology Research focus: Neural control of fluid balance in normal and disease states.
	Vaishali Phatak, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Neuropsychology - Traumatic Brain Injury; Memory; Dementia; Stroke and neurodegenerative disorders.
	Padmashri Ragunathan, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Neuron-Glia interactions; experience-dependent plasticity; neurodevelopmental disorders; Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
	Matthew Rizzo, MD, FAAN Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Memory disorders, behavioral consequences of aging and neurological disorders.
	Kelly Stauch, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Role of mitochondrial dysfunction and altered energy metabolism in the context of neurodegenerative diseases and aging.
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Neuroscience Faculty

Faculty Departments

Faculty

Neurodegeneration

Neuroinfection

Neurophysiology and Retinal Neurobiology

CNS Dysfunction in Cardiovascular Disease

Cognitive Function in Disorders and Aging