People

Research Personnel and Graduate Students in the Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology

David H. Farb, PhD Professor and Chair of Pharmacology

Terrell T. Gibbs, PhD Associate Professor of Pharmacology

Vidhya Kumaresan, PhD Research Assistant Professor of Pharmacology

Scott Downing, PhD Bioinformatics Research Associate

Nigel Durham, BA Research Technician Research Interests: Elucidating the effects of neurosteroids on place cell remapping in the rat hippocampus using a model of age-related cognitive impairment. High density multi-unit recordings are taken from pyramidal cell layers CA1 and CA3 in vivo while the subject explores either a familiar, novel, or rotated environment. It has been hypothesized that positive modulation of place cell remapping will occur via the effects of particular neurosteroids on NMDA receptor-dependent plasticity.

Stella Martin, PhD Postdoctoral Research Associate Research interests: The disrupted-in-schizophrenia (DISC1) gene, nervous system development and cognition.

Marcia Hillary Ratner, PhD Postdoctoral Research Associate Research Interests: Neurotoxicology and neurodegenerative disease.

R. Jonathan Robitsek, PhD Postdoctoral Research Associate Research Interests: Hippocampal place fields and memory; Normal aging; Pharmacological restoration of cognition; Hippocampal function following chronic early-life stress in a model of negative symptoms associated with schizophrenia.

Conor Smith Program in Biomolecular Pharmacology PhD student Research Interests: Oxidative modulation of neurotransmitter release from synaptosomes, modulation of NMDA Receptor activity by steroids

Tara Stewart Program in Biomolecular Pharmacology PhD student Research Interests: GABA-A receptor pharmacology of hippocampal place cells, the role of the alpha5-containing GABA-A receptor in learning and memory, cognitive deficits associated with normal aging

Kavitha Sugunan Program in Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience PhD student Research Interests: The endogenous modulatory effects of pregnenolone sulfate on neurotransmission and its role in mediating synaptic plasticity