PrintNeurobiology, Biophysics, and Development
Neuroscience
Our groups are dedicated to studying sensory information processing andthe control of muscle activity. As with the study of evolution, we workat multiple levels, from biochemistry to behavior.
Biophysics
At the heart of cellular biology lies the study of protein structureand function. Our department contributes to this field through groupsthat study the function of ion channel proteins in bacteria andmitochondria, revealing the details of their molecular mechanism andtheir 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, Assistant 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, Assistant 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, Assistant 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; 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.
William J. Higgins, Associate Professor; 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.
Patrick Kanold, Assistant 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.
Hey-Kyoung Lee, Associate Professor; Ph. D., Brown University, 1997. Cellular/molecular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity underlying memory formation; synaptic function in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease.
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; Ph.D., CUNY Graduate Center, 1969. Function, development and evolution of the auditory system in non-mammalian vertebrates.
Elizabeth Quinlan, Associate 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, Associate Professor (joint appointment with Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering); Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1990. Neural processing, auditory computation, neurophysiology.
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.
