There are a total of 49 faculty members in the Neuroscience Graduate Program representing 12 departments, NASA and the rehabilitation group in the School of Allied Health Sciences and Sealy Center for Aging. New faculty members in the departments of Neurology and of Neuroscience & Cell Biology are being actively recruited and will soon be joining the program. The total funding annually for the group is over $17 million, with 76% of the funds ($13.1M) coming from NIH, NSF, NASA and similar federal sources, and 24% ($4.2M) from private foundations, corporations, the State of Texas, and local institutional sources. These faculty have a total of over 70 R01-type federal awards and 40 research awards from private foundations, industry and the state. In addition, the NGP faculty holds two program-project awards and an NIH training grant. On average, the NGP faculty publish 3.2 papers per faculty member per year in refereed journals. Recent surveys of program faculty indicate that all researchers have ongoing collaborations outside their own labs, and 67% of respondents are publishing with collaborators. As one index of the contribution of graduate students to research productivity at UTMB, faculty reported that 37% of their published papers were co-authored with graduate students. Major areas of research strength among NGP faculty include: pain; response to neural injury (trauma, stroke); mechanisms of drug abuse and addiction; neurodegeneration, aging and stress; vestibular and auditory neurobiology; AIDS; neurobiology of the amygdala and other limbic structures; hippocampal function; motor control and molecular basis of muscle disease; aspects of comparative and behavioral neurobiology; and a variety of other, smaller clusters of neuroscience research, including stem cell research, neurogenetics and the neural basis of mental disorders. The current NGP faculty and their areas of research expertise are listed below.

• Ashizawa, M.D., Tetsuo
  Professor and Chairman, Neurology; Clinical neurogenetics and neurodegenerative disorders with genome instability

• Blankenship, Ph.D., James E.
  Ashbel Smith Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Control of locomotion and neuroendocrine systems in Aplysia

• Bloomberg, Ph.D., Jacob J.
  Senior Research Scientist, Johnson space Center, NASA; Effects of space flight on vestibular system and locomotion in humans

• Boehning, Ph.D., Darren H.
  Assistant Professor, Neuroscience and Cell Biology; Apoptotic Regulatory Mechanisms

• Brodwick, Ph.D., Malcolm S.
  Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Excitable membranes and the control of secretion

• Budelmann, Ph.D., Bernd U.
  Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Cephalopod neurobiology

• Carlton, Ph.D., Susan M.
  Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Peripheral nociceptive mechanisms.

• Christadoss, M.D., Premkumar
  Professor, Microbiology and Immunology; Cellular and molecular immunopathogenesis of neuromuscular disease (myasthenia gravis)

• Chung, Ph.D., Jin Mo
  Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Somatosensory system; pain

• Coggeshall, M.D., Richard E.
  Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Spinal cord regeneration

• Correia, Ph.D., Manning J.
  Professor, Otolaryngology; Ion Channels, channelopathy, and hair cells

• Cromwell, Ph.D., Ronita
  Associate Professor, Physical Therapy; Visual-vestibular control of dynamic balance

• Cunningham, Ph.D., Kathryn A.
  Professor and Vice Chair, Pharmacology and Toxicology; Director, Center for Addiction Research; Neuropsychopharmacology of abused drugs; serotonin neurotransmission in psychiatric disorders

• Dewitt, Ph.D., Douglas S.
  Professor, Department of Anesthesiology; Gap junctions and traumatic cerebral vascular injury

• Dineley, Ph.D., Kelly T.
  Assistant Professor, Neurology; Molecular mechanisms of hippocampal dysfunction in early Alzheimer's disease

• Elferink, Ph.D., Lisa A.
  Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating cell-cell communication and signaling

• Epstein, M.D., Henry F.
  Professor and Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Distinguished University Chair, Neuroscience and Cell Biology; Molecular and genetic mechanisms of muscle disease and myosin protein structure and function

• Fishman, Ph.D., Harvey M.
  Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Cellular/molecular mechanisms of axonal repair and degeneration

• Frolova, Ph.D., Elena
  Assistant Professor, Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics; Molecular and morphological analysis of eye development.

• Gallageher, Ph.D., Joel P.
  Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology; CNS plasticity within the limbic brain (septum, amygdale, and prefrontal cortex) following the stress associated with chronic drug exposure and its withdrawal

• Gelman, M.D., Ph.D., Benjamin B.
  Professor, Pathology; Mononuclear phagocytes in the nervous system; AIDS

• Hamill, Ph.D., Owen P.
  Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Membrane ion channels

• High, Ph.D., Karin Westlund
  Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Neurogenic and signal transduction mechanisms of inflammatory pain in arthritic and visceral models

• Huang, Ph.D., Li-Yen M.
  Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Mechanisms of receptor sensitization after injury. Opioid receptor gene transfer

• Hulsebosch, Ph.D., Claire E.
  Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Central nervous system trauma, neurotrophins, stem cell transplants and central pain

• Johnson, Jr., Ph.D., Kenneth M.
  Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology; Neuropharmacology of drugs of abuse, particularly phencyclidine blockade of NMDA receptors as a developmental model of schizophrenia

• Kevetter-Leonard, Ph.D., Golda A.
  Associate Professor, Otolaryngology; Sensorimotor interactions in the vestibular system

• Leonard, Ph.D., Robert B.
  Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Sensory-motor integration and aging

• Li, Ph.D., Qian
  Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Role of serotonergic systems in etiology and therapy of affective disorders

• Lin, M.D., Ph.D., Qing
  Assistant Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Neuronal mechanisms of inflammatory pain

• Liu, Ph.D., Danxia
  Professor, Neurology; Neuronal degeneration and death in CNS, proteomics

• McAdoo, Ph.D., David J.
  Professor, Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics; Neurochemistry, neurotransmitters and neurotrauma; proteomics

• Meyer, III, M.D., Walter J.
  Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Relationship between psychologic and psychiatric problems and physical illness; management of pain and anxiety in the burn survivor

• Nagle, Ph.D., Gregg T.
  Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Peptide/protein pheromonal communication

• Nesic, Ph.D., Olivera
  Assistant Professor, Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics; Central nervous system response to trauma

• Neugebauer, M.D., Ph.D., Volker E.
  Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Emotional-affective component of pain. Behavioral approaches and electrophysiological in vivo and in vitro techniques are combined to analyze pain mechanisms and pain modulation in the amygdala, a key player in emotional behavior and affective state

• Newlands, M.D., Ph.D., Shawn D.
  Professor and Chair, Otolaryngology; Compensatory mechanisms for vestibulo-ocular reflexes following labyrinth injury

• Pasricha, M.D., P. Jay
  Professor, Internal Medicine; Neural mechanisms underlying gastric motility, neurophysiological disorders and pain in the gastrointestinal system

• Perachio, Ph.D., Adrian A.
  Professor, Otolaryngology; Vestibular physiology

• Perez-Polo, Ph.D., J. Regino
  Professor, Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics; Member, Sealy Center for Molecular Science; Responses to acute and chronic trauma to central nervous system

• Prough, M.D., Donald S.
  Professor and Chair, Anesthesiology; Response to traumatic brain injury; zinc neurotoxicity

• Rassin, Ph.D., David K.
  Professor, Pediatrics; Nutrition and neurochemistry of amino acids

• Shinnick-Gallagher, Ph.D., Patricia
  Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology; Functional roles of the amygdala in learning and memory, cued anxiety, and chronic cocaine withdrawal

• Soto, Ph.D., Claudio
  Professor, Neurology; Mechanism of protein misfolding and aggregation in brain degenerative disorders; design of novel strategies for therapy and early diagnosis.

• Swanson, Ph.D., Geoffrey T.
  Assistant Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology; Molecular and physiological properties of receptor proteins that underlie excitatory synaptic transmission in the mammalian brain

• Taglialatela, Ph.D., Giulio
  Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Neurodegeneration and apoptosis in the aged CNS and Alzheimer's disease.

• Watson, Ph.D., Cheryl S.
  Professor, Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics; Mechanisms of steroid actions

• Willis Jr., M.D., Ph.D., William D.
  Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Spinal cord mechanisms of pain and analgesia

• Wu, M.D., Ph.D., Ping
  Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Cell Biology; Cell and gene therapy in the CNS

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