Mentoring Faculty in the ADRD Training Program

Identifying mechanisms of tau-mediated neurodegeneration in tauopathies.

Structure-function relationships in memory disorders using structural brain imaging techniques.

Mechanisms of brain aging and the implications for cognitive function.

Modeling neurodegeneration and protein misfolding in ADRD.

Uncovering mechanisms of age-related impairments in ADRD.

Understanding the role of immune activation in neurodegeneration.

Discovering ways of delaying or ameliorating normal cognitive aging — cognitive decline not caused by disease.

Identifying mechanisms for age-related memory impairment and to test treatments to alleviate memory deficits.

Understanding the regulation of protein interactions and folding that affect protein aggregation in the nervous system.

Identifying novel mechanisms involved in regulation of dopamine neurotransmission in the brain.

Creating, characterizing, and utilizing genetically manipulated in vivo models of neurodegenerative diseases.

Identifying the causes and neural underpinnings of obsessive compulsive and anxiety spectrum disorders.

Understanding how the brain rapidly translates environmental information into complex representations in support of cognitive function.

Identifying fundamental mechanisms of spinal respiratory motor plasticity induced by intermittent hypoxia, and attempts to harness that plasticity to treat devastating clinical disorders that compromise breathing and non-respiratory limb movements, such as cervical spinal injury and ALS.

Examining the acute and chronic effects of alcohol and other drugs.

Exploring the cognitive, behavioral, and mood effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS)

Examining the predictive value of patients’ white and gray matter structure integrity on disease associated cognitive decline and vulnerability to cognitive change after elective medical interventions with anesthesia.

Utilizing models to understand how genetic mutations cause neurodegenerative diseases.

Development and application of new technologies to define the molecular pathways leading to neurodegeneration and identification of potential therapeutic targets

Investigating how acute and chronic exposure to drugs of abuse affects cognitive and motivational outcomes.

Early detection of neurodegenerative diseases and the methods to prevent or delay the development of dementia.

How RNA processing is regulated during embryonic, fetal and postnatal development and how this regulation is disrupted in neurological disease, particularly in microsatellite expansion disorders.

His lab is focused on three main areas – 1) studying the pathogenesis of microsatellite repeat diseases, in particular myotonic dystrophy, 2) studying the basics of how RNA is processed and localized in cells in tissues, and 3) combining insights made in both of those areas to develop treatments for people with these diseases.

Testing specific hypotheses regarding the neural basis of sensory dysfunction in neurological disorders, including dementias and addiction, wherein sensory processing is aberrant.