TSRI Faculty Interests

Neuroscience

Baldwin, Kristin  
studies the sense of smell by genetically visualizing the neural circuits of the mouse olfactory system and uses mouse cloning and stem cell technology to investigate the molecular mechanisms that govern neural circuit formation and function throughout the nervous system.

Chun, Jerold  
is interested in the study of lysophospholipid signaling in neural and systems biology, chromosomal aneuploidy in the nervous system, and disease related studies with a Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience approach.

Cravatt, Benjamin  
studies the action and regulation of chemical messengers, particularly the fatty acid amides, which mediate physiological phenomena like pain sensation, sleep, and thermoregulation; he designs and uses chemical probes for "active site proteomics," the global analysis of protein function.

Cunningham, Bruce  
studies the detailed properties of cell surface glycoproteins that play critical roles in neural development, particularly cell adhesion molecules (CAMs), which bind cells together and generate signals that determine a cell's developmental destiny.

Fowler, Velia  
studies the role of actin dynamics in regulating assembly and function of cytoskeletal structures that contribute to cell and tissue morphogenesis during embryonic development. Systems of interest include morphogenesis of epithelia, the eye lens, differentiation and stability of erythrocytes, and striated muscle development.

Gruol, Donna  
examines the pathways and mechanisms involved in neuronal signaling in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), developmental expression of signaling pathways, and the neuroadaptive mechanisms through which CNS disease and drugs alter neuronal signaling and viability.

Jegla, Timothy  
aims to define the molecular pathways through which potassium channels regulate neuronal signaling.

Kelly, Jeffery  
examines the bioorganic and biophysical chemistry of aberrant conformational changes in proteins associated with misfolding diseases, seeking to develop new approaches for preventing these diseases with purposefully designed small molecules.

Milner, Richard  
uses a combination of mouse models and tissue culture cell–based assays to examine the role of fibronectin and endothelial fibronectin receptors in promoting cerebral angiogenesis during cerebral hypoxia and ischemia.

Mueller, Ulrich  
focuses on the genes and the gene mutations that contribute to the pathology of Usher syndrome, other human diseases related to mechanosensory perception, and central nervous system diseases

Parsons, Loren  
studies neurochemical mechanisms in drug dependence with the goal of characterizing neural pathologies that may be viable targets for a pharmacotherapy of addiction; particular focus is on the central serotonin and endocannabinoid systems.

Patapoutian, Ardem  
studies the molecular basis of the sense of touch by using genomics, imaging, and transgenic technologies to identify and characterize ion channel proteins involved in the perception of distinct thermal, mechanical, and chemical stimuli.

Schork, Nicholas  
focuses on the development and implementation of analysis methods for understanding the genetic determinants of complex human traits and diseases such as cancer, neuropsychiatric disease, and cardiovascular disease. These methods focus on both the design, integration, and interpretation of studies making use of contemporary high throughput genomic technologies.

Stevens, Raymond  
uses crystallography and biochemistry to probe the structure and function of molecules involved in neurotransmission and neurochemistry, seeking to understand how neuronal cells communicate at the molecular level and to create new molecules that affect neuronal signal transduction and recognition.

Stowers, Lisa  
studies the ligands, neurons, and brain nuclei that initiate social behavior using molecular genetics and genomics; her work is determining the rules that generate the information coding of neuronal networks.