NCB - The Department of Neuroscience and Biology

UTMB

Neuroscience Graduate Program Faculty Listings

  • Tetsuo Ashizawa, M.D. 
  • Professor and Chairman, Neurology; Clinical neurogenetics and neurodegenerative
  • disorders with genome instability
  • José M. Barral, M.D., Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor, Departments of Neuroscience & Cell Biology, Biochemistry& Molecular Biology and Sealy Center for Structural Biology & Molecular Biophysics; Protein folding mechanisms in health and disease.
  • Krishna M. Bhat, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology
  • James E. Blankenship, Ph.D.
  • Ashbel Smith Distinguished Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Director,
  • Neuroscience Graduate Program; Control of locomotion and neuroendocrine systems
  • In Aplysia
  • Darren F. Boehning, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Apoptotic Regulatory Mechanisms; Molecular Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease.

  • Malcolm S. Brodwick, Ph.D.

  • Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Excitable membranes and the control
  • of secretion
  • Bernd U. Budelmann, Ph.D.
  • Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Cephalopod neurobiology
  • Susan M. Carlton, Ph.D.
  • Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Peripheral nociceptive mechanisms.
  • Premkumar Christadoss, M.D. 
  • Professor, Microbiology and Immunology; Cellular and molecular immunopathogenesis of
  • neuromuscular disease (myasthenia gravis)
  • Jin Mo Chung, Ph.D.
  • Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Somatosensory system; Mechanisms of neuropathic pain; Cell signaling and reactive oxygen species
  • Richard E. Coggeshall, M.D.
  • Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Spinal cord regeneration
  • Manning J. Correia, Ph.D.
  • Professor Emeritus, Otolaryngology; Ion Channels, channelopathy, and hair cells
  • Ronita L. Cromwell, Ph.D.
  • Senior Research Scientist, Universities Space Research Association, Project Scientist for the NASA Flight Analogs Project; the Flight Analogs Project examines ground-based analogs that simulate the affects of spaceflight.  This includes the ongoing bed rest studies at UTMB.
  • Kathryn A. Cunningham, Ph.D. 
  • Professor and Vice Chair, Pharmacology and Toxicology; Director, Center for Addiction
  • Research; Neuropsychopharmacology of abused drugs; serotonin neurotransmission in
  • psychiatric disorders
  • Douglas DeWitt, Ph.D.
  • Professor of Anesthesiology, Director, Charles R. Allen Research Laboratories.  Experimental traumatic brain injury, cerebral vascular regulation.
  • Kelly T. Dineley, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor, Neurology; Molecular mechanisms of cognitive (hippocampal) dysfunction in
  • early versus late Alzheimer’s disease; Nicotine addiction with specific emphasis on nicotine-context associations and the molecular mechanisms underlying their extinction
  • Henry F. Epstein, M.D.
  • Professor and Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Distinguished University Chair, Neuroscience and Cell
  • Biology; The roles of molecular chaperones and protein kinases in neuronal regulation.
  • Elena I. Frolova, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Molecular and morphological analysis of
  • eye development.
  • Benjamin B. Gelman, M.D., Ph.D.
  • Professor, Pathology; Mononuclear phagocytes in the nervous system; AIDS
  • Owen P. Hamill, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Membrane channel regulation of tumor cell
  • migration and invasiveness.
  • Li-Yen Mae Huang, Ph.D.
  • Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Mechanisms of receptor sensitization after injury.  Opioid
  • receptor gene transfer
  • Claire E. Hulsebosch, Ph.D.
  • Director of Mission Connect, Vice-Chair and Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Central
  • nervous system trauma, neurotrophins, stem cell transplants and mechanisms of central pain
  • Kenneth M. Johnson, Jr., Ph.D.
  • Professor and Graduate Program Director, Pharmacology and Toxicology; Mechanisms of neurodegeneration and neuroprotection; animal models of schizophrenia and drug abuse; evaluation of novel chemicals for therapy in schizophrenia, depression, narcolepsy, and drug abuse
  • Golda A. Kevetter-Leonard, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor, Otolaryngology; Sensorimotor interactions and aging in the vestibular system
  • Robert B. Leonard, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Sensory-motor integration and aging
  • Qing Lin, M.D., Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Mechanisms of Neurogenic inflammation induced pain
  • Danxia Liu, Ph.D.
  • Professor, Neurology; Reactive species and oxidative damage in Neuronal degeneration and death in CNS, proteomics
  • Tomoko Makishima, M.D., Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor, Otolaryngology, Genetic hearing loss and vestibular dysfunction, Apoptosis in
  • the inner ear
  • David J. McAdoo, Ph.D.
  • Professor Emeritus, Neuroscience and Cell Biology; Neurochemistry, neurotransmitters and
  • neurotrauma; proteomics
  • Walter J. Meyer, III, M.D.  
  • Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Relationship between psychologic and psychiatric
  • problems and physical illness; management of pain and anxiety in the burn survivor
  • Olivera B. Nesic-Taylor, Ph.D. 
  • Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Spinal cord injury; Glial response to injury; Pain
  • Volker E. Neugebauer, M.D., Ph.D.
  • Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Emotional-affective and cognitive brain functions and behavior.
  • Wolfgang M. J. Obermann, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor, Neuroscience and Cell Biology; Physiological role of the Hsp90 chaperone system; protein folding; diseases associated with protein-misfolding; control of synaptic activity by the Hsp90 chaperone system
  • J. Regino Perez-Polo, Ph.D.
  • Professor and Chair, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Senior Scientist, Sealy Center
  • for Molecular Medicine; Shriner’s Hospital for Children, Responses to acute and chronic
  • trauma to central nervous system
  • Donald S. Prough, M.D.
  • Professor and Chair, Anesthesiology; Response to traumatic brain injury; zinc neurotoxicity
  • David K. Rassin, Ph.D.
  • Professor, Pediatrics; Associate Dean, Office of Continuing Education; Nutrition and neurochemistry of amino acids during early
  • development of term and preterm infants
  • Patricia Shinnick-Gallagher, Ph.D. 
  • Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology; Functional roles of the amygdala in learning and
  • memory, cued anxiety, and chronic cocaine withdrawal
  • Claudio A. Soto, Ph.D. 
  • Professor and Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Distinguished University Chair, Director George and Cynthia Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases. Departments of Neurology, Neuorscience & Cell Biology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Mechanism of protein misfolding and aggregation in brain degenerative disorders; design of novel strategies for therapy and early diagnosis.
  • Giulio Taglialatela, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Neurodegeneration and apoptosis in the aged
  • CNS and Alzheimer’s disease.
  • Cheryl S. Watson, Ph.D.
  • Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Mechanisms of steroid actions
  • William D. Willis Jr., M.D., Ph.D.
  • Professor Emeritus, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Spinal cord mechanisms of pain and analgesia
  • Ping Wu, M.D., Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Human stem cell biology, Stem cell therapy
  • and gene therapy for neurological disorders.
  • Zhihua Zou, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Neural bases of odor and pheromone guided
  • behaviors