Faculty
are listed by Department within their Research Areas,
with descriptions of their active projects.
ANATOMY AND NEUROBIOLOGY
JULIE SANDELL
Associate Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology;
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
My lab has two major areas of interest: 1) we are part of a group
that is building a retinal prosthesis to treat retinal degeneration
and 2) we are interested in discovering the biological basis for
cognitive impairment during normal aging. For the first project,
we use anatomical techniques to investigate the remodeling that
occurs in the retina in retinitis pigmentosa. We also study retinas
from animals that have retinal degeneration as a result of a mutation,
or as a result of a photoreceptor toxin. For the second project,
we study the changes in neurons and neuroglial cells in the brain
in monkeys as they age, and try to correlate the structural changes
with the monkey's cognitive performance, which is determined in
another laboratory. We are particularly interested in teasing apart
the changes that are related to age alone from those that are related
to cognitive status. Ultimately we would like to know what allows
some individuals to age "successfully," while others are
severely impaired. I also have long standing interests in visual
system plasticity, and the role of GABA in neuronal development.
For more information regarding Julie Sandell's
research and publications, please click on the following link:
http://www.bu.edu/anatneuro/faculty_framepage.html
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DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY
PAUL B. COOK
Assistant Professor of Biology; PhD, University of California, Berkeley
Processing of visual signals by the vertebrate retina involves interactions
between excitatory and inhibitory neurons, the strength of which
varies according to several parameters including the spatial properties
of the cells and the temporal characteristics of their signals.
In addition many of these interactions are modulated during changes
in adaptational state such as the change in gap junction coupling
between horizontal cells, or the responsiveness of retinal neurons
to the excitatory neurotransmitter, glutamate.
In order to understand these interactions my
laboratory employs several techniques including whole cell patch-clamp
from retinal neurons in the flat mount/isolated retina and in the
retinal slice preparations. Synaptic inputs can be elicited with
stimuli such as patterned and random light stimuli, focal electrical
stimulation of the retinal circuitry, and focal application of analogues,
agonists, and antagonists.
Computational models of neural function will
complement the physiological studies. Particularly significant questions
include the effects of anatomical constraints of the cells comprising
specialized retinal circuits, effects of electrical coupling between
neurons, the functional role of pre- and postsynaptic inhibition
on shaping the temporal and spatial responses of cells, and the
effects of modulation of synaptic inputs on retinal processing.
For more information regarding Paul B. Cook's
research and publications, please click on the following link:
http://www.bu.edu/biology/Faculty_Staff/cook.html
WILLIAM D. ELDRED
Professor of Biology; Director of the Program in Neuroscience;
Professor in the Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry
Program; Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems Research
Fellow; PhD, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
We are doing multidisciplinary studies of the role of cGMP in synaptic
mechanisms in retinal neurons. These studies employ immunocytochemistry,
retrograde tracers, intracellular injections, pharmacology, electrophysiology,
biochemistry and image analysis at the light and electron microscopic
levels. Particular emphasis is placed on regional differences in
the retina and the biochemical and pharmacological mechanisms for
modulating cGMP in identifies neurons.
For more information regarding William D. Eldred's
research and publications, please click on the following link:
http://www.bu.edu/biology/Faculty_Staff/eldred.html
SUSAN TSUNODA
Assistant Professor of Biology; PhD, Washington University
School of Medicine
Every cell is faced with the task of sorting through a vast array
of extracellular signals and transducing them into the appropriate
intracellular responses. How do signaling molecules within one pathway
activate downstream components with the necessary speed and specificity,
while avoiding cross-talk with other pathways in the same cell?
There is increasing recognition that this is accomplished by organizing
signaling components into physically and functionally distinct signaling
complexes. Our long-term interest is to understand how this organization
is achieved and maintained, and how it produces effective signaling.
We use Drosophila phototransduction as a model system for studying
the organization of signaling cascades. Phototransduction in Drosophila
is a G-protein-coupled signaling pathway similar to many other signaling
cascades. Drosophila is an ideal model organism for studying intracellular
signaling because it is amenable to combining a wide variety of
experimental approaches to address biological questions. Classical
genetic schemes can be used to isolate mutants, defects can be characterized
using biochemical, cell-biological, and electrophysiological approaches,
while powerful molecular-genetic techniques can be used to identify
the affected molecules and examine the function of the proteins
they encode in vivo.
How are signaling complexes assembled, targeted,
and anchored in photoreceptor cells? How does a photoreceptor ensure
that transduction complexes have the appropriate composition of
components and that they are situated in the proper location? Drosophila
offers the opportunity to take a genetic approach to identifying
the molecules involved in the assembly and localization of complexes,
and to study the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes
in vivo.
For more information regarding Susan Tsunoda's
research and publications, please click on the following link:
http://www.bu.edu/biology/Faculty_Staff/tsunoda.html
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DEPARMENT OF BIOMEDICAL
ENGINEERING
CHRISTOPHER PASSAGLIA
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering; PhD, Syracuse University
Dr. Passaglia studies how the eye transforms visual images into
the neural signals it transmits to the brain and how target neurons
in the brain process these signals. His laboratory is presently
focused on quantitatively describing the receptive field properties
of mammalian retinal ganglion cells in normal and diseased states
and on building computer models that accurately simulate the retinal
output under natural viewing conditions. Another interest of the
lab is to characterize the response properties of invertebrate visual
neurons, particularly those of horseshoe crabs, which mediate comparatively
simple visually-guided behaviors. His research uses electrophysiological,
anatomical, computational, and behavioral methods.
For more information regarding Christopher Passaglia's
research and publications, please click on the following link
http://bme.bu.edu/faculty/passaglia.html
LUCIA M. VAINA
Professor, Biomedical Engineering; Research Professor of Neurology,
School of Medicine; PhD, Sorbonne (France) and Doctorat D'Etat es
Sciences, National Politechnique Institute-Toulouse (France)
Professor Vaina's main areas of current interest involve: (a) Visual
motion analysis in the human brain based on computational, psychophysical
and neuroimaging methods; (b) Perceptual learning and plasticity
in the human visual cortex: psychophysics and neuronal network models;
(c) structural and functional neuroimaging applied to diagnosis,
evaluation of the effect of treatment, surgical planing and anatomical
localization of vision mechanisms involved in perception and learning.
For more information regarding Lucia M. Vaina's
research and publications, please click on the following link:
http://bme.bu.edu/faculty/vaina.html
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DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY
AND BIOPHYSICS
M. CARTER CORNWALL
Professor; PhD, University of Utah
The Cornwall laboratory studies the mechanisms of visual transduction
that relate to light- and dark-adaptation in the vertebrate retina.
Specific areas of study are: mechanisms of visual pigment regeneration
and dark adaptation of rods and cones; retinoid transport during
light and dark adaptation; role of interphotoreceptor matrix retinoid
binding protein (IRBP); calcium homeostasis during light- and dark-adaptation.
Techniques used routinely in the lab are: extracellular single cell
electrical recordings of rods and cones, microspectrophotometry
of visual pigments, whole-cell voltage clamp recording (in collaboration
with Dr. Hugh Matthews, University of Cambridge, England), and single
cell confocal calcium imaging (in collaboration with Dr. Gordon
Fain, UCLA).
For more information regarding M. Carter Cornwall's
research and publications, please click on the following link:
http://biophysics.bumc.bu.edu/faculty/cornwall/
GREGOR J. JONES
Assistant Professor; PhD
Photoreceptor mechanisms, especially the mechanisms of light and
dark adaptation as measured electrically in isolated single photoreceptors.
SIMON LEVY
Associate Professor; PhD, Boston University
In many nerve cells, transient increases in intracellular free calcium
concentrations (Cai) are caused primarily by influx through voltage-dependent
calcium channels. Second messengers like inositol trisphosphate
(InsP3) also have the ability to increase Cai through release from
intracellular stores, or gating of calcium channels. The long-term
goal of the Levy laboratory is to investigate mechanisms by which
second messengers modulate the excitability of nerve cells by controlling
their membrane permeability. The lab has developed suitable technologies
to: i) measure single-channel activities; ii) simultaneously measure
changes in intracellular calcium and membrane currents; iii) pressure-inject
pharmacological agents to investigate putative pathways involved
in neuronal excitability. The combination of these electrophysiological
and pharmacological techniques has proven useful in gathering new
and important information about nerve cell function.
There are four main projects: 1. Intracellular calcium
regulation and detection in nerve cells. Effects of second messengers
on internal calcium and membrane currents in nerve cells. 2. Role
of calcium-induced calcium release in the excitability of the peptidergic
neurons of Aplysia californica. 3. Role of calcium and inositol
trisphosphate in phototransduction in Limulus photoreceptors. 4.
Genetic Dissociation of phototransduction in Drosophila photoreceptors.
For more information regarding
Simon Levy's research and publications, please click on the following
link:
http://biophysics.bumc.bu.edu/faculty/levy/
ENRICO NASI
Associate Professor; PhD, Bryn Mawr College
Research in our laboratory focuses primarily on the mechanisms of
G protein-mediated signaling, using isolated photoreceptor cells
as a particularly convenient experimental model system. Light transduction
in the double retina of certain invertebrates exemplifies two of
the more ubiquitous pathways in nature, which entail the activation
of phospholipase C and the mobilization of cyclic nucleotides, respectively.
The focus is on the amplification of the incoming signal and the
modulation of the receptor operating characteristics to optimize
responsiveness in the face of varying conditions of ambient stimulation.
Current lines of research include 1) The role of phospoinositude
lipids and their metabolites as internal messengers 2) Novel G protein-controlled
enzymes 3) Gating mechanisms of ion channels controlled by cGMP
and their relation to the ancestral superfamily of voltage-dependent
K-selective channels. The approaches employed included a variety
of electrophysiological recording techniques, optical measurements
of intracellular ions, immunodetection, and molecular biology. Our
interests in transduction have recently expanded to encompass thermo-reception
by TRP-class channels, a different scheme in which a single membrane
protein consolidates all key functions, bypassing all G protein-dependent
enzymatic cascades.
For more information regarding
Enrico Nasi's research and publications, please click on the following
link:
http://biophysics.bumc.bu.edu/faculty/nasi/
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