Neurobiology and Biophysics
Neuroscience
Our groups are dedicated to studying sensory information processing and the control of muscle activity. As with the study of evolution, we work at multiple levels, from biochemistry to behavior.
Our groups are dedicated to studying sensory information processing and the control of muscle activity. As with the study of evolution, we work at multiple levels, from biochemistry to behavior.
Biophysics
At the heart of cellular biology lies the study of protein structure and function. Our department contributes to this field through groups that study the function of ion channel proteins in bacteria and mitochondria, revealing the details of their molecular mechanism and their importance for cellular function.
At the heart of cellular biology lies the study of protein structure and function. Our department contributes to this field through groups that study the function of ion channel proteins in bacteria and mitochondria, revealing the details of their molecular mechanism and their importance for cellular function.
Faculty & Research Interests
Ibrahim Z. Ades, Associate Professor; Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, 1976. Regulatory processes that govern eukaryotic cell development.
Ricardo C. Araneda, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1997. Neuromodulation and sensory physiology of the olfactory system; mechanisms underlying the processing of olfactory information in the context of behavior.
Dan Butts, Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2000. Information processing in the visual pathway in the context of natural vision; role of time in the sensory coding; relationships between observable single-neuron physiology and system-level function.
Karen Carleton, Professor; Ph.D., University of Colorado, 1987. Evolution of visual systems, visual communication and speciation, phototransduction, sensory genomics.
Catherine E. Carr, Professor; Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 1984. Cellular mechanisms of sound localization in birds; evolution of the auditory system.
Avis H. Cohen, Professor Emerita (Joint appointment with Institute for systems research); Ph.D., Cornell University, 1977. Motor physiology and control; neuromorphic engineering; computational neuroscience with an emphasis on systems of coupled oscillators.
Marco Colombini, Professor; Ph.D., McGill University, 1974. Structure and mode of action of membrane transport systems; molecular basis for voltage control of channel-forming proteins.
Quentin Gaudry, Assistant Professor; Ph. D, UC San Diego, 2008. How nervous systems generate complex behaviors and give rise to sensory perceptions.
William J. Higgins, Associate Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Florida State University, 1973. Neuromodulation; opiate receptors; intercellular communication among unicellular organisms.
William R. Jeffery, Professor; Ph.D., University of Iowa, 1971. Evolution of developmental mechanisms in chordates.
Scott Juntti, Assistant Professor, William J. Higgins Professor of Biology; Ph.D., University of California, San Fransico. (Starts July 1, 2017)
Patrick Kanold, Professor; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 2000. Mechanisms and circuits involved in the maturation of the cortical circuitry, development of patterned projection in the brain and the relation of synaptic maturation to critical periods, and development of the central auditory system.
Richard Payne, Professor; Ph.D., Australian National University, 1982. Mechanisms of visual excitation in photoreceptors by injecting messenger molecules into cells and monitoring intracellular calcium release and the activity of ionic channels.
Arthur N. Popper, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., CUNY Graduate Center, 1969. Function, development and evolution of the auditory system in non-mammalian vertebrates.
Elizabeth Quinlan, Professor; Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago, 1993. Development of the vertebrate visual system, cellular and molecular basis of learning and memory.
Jonathan Simon, Professor (joint appointment with Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering); Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1990. Neural processing, auditory computation, neurophysiology.
Joshua Singer, Associate Professor; Ph.D. University of Washington, 1998. Synaptic transmission and information processing in small neural circuits; retinal neurophysiology.
Colenso Speer, Assistant Professor. Molecular and activity-dependent mechanisms of neural development; structure/function relationships and plasticity in developing visual microcircuits; super-resolution fluorescence microscopy.
Sergei Sukharev, Professor; Ph.D., Moscow State University, 1987. Molecular mechanisms of mechanosensation; mechano-activated ion channels, their structure and mechanisms of gating by membrane stretch.