Translational Neuroscience
Basic knowledge about how the brain works is essential for developing approaches and products that will assist, restore and enhance life and prevent, treat or cure brain diseases in order to reduce neurological disabilities (Translational Neuroscience). The UC Davis Neuroscience Consortium has a large number of faculty working at this level: 88 faculty members from 26 departments and 12 centers.
Faculty studying translational neuroscience
| David G. Amaral, Ph.D. | Systems Neuroscience and Studies of Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| Bradley Ander, Ph.D., M.B.A. | RNA and blood transcriptomes of stroke, brain injury and neurodisorders & effects of DNA variation |
| Paul Ashwood, Ph.D. | Neuroimmune effects on mental health |
| Ramsey D. Badawi, Ph.D. | Total-Body PET; NeuroPET; mind/body imaging |
| Melissa D. Bauman, Ph.D. | Behavioral neuroscience, prenatal risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders |
| Robert F. Berman, Ph.D. | Neurodevelopmental disorders; TBI; neurotoxicology |
| Eliza Bliss-Moreau, Ph.D. | Affective neuroscience |
| Sanchita Bhatnagar, Ph.D. | Childhood neurodevelopmental disorders; translational epigenetics |
| Amy R. Brooks-Kayal, M.D., F.A.A.N., F.A.N.A., F.A.E.S. | Pediatric epilepsy |
| Marie E. Burns, Ph.D. | Photoreceptor physiology and degeneration, neuroinflammation in the retina |
| Earl Carstens, Ph.D. | Functional organization of itch, pain and chemesthesis sensory systems |
| Simon R. Cherry, Ph.D. | Advanced molecular imaging technologies for noninvasive imaging of the brain. |
| Gino Cortopassi, Ph.D. | Pharmacological amelioration of Neurodegeneration (Mitochondrial and Shc strategies) |
| Jacqueline Crawley, Ph.D. | Behavioral neuroscience and neurodevelopmental disorders |
| Lillian Cruz-Orengo, Ph.D. | Neuroimmunology and molecular neuroscience |
| Wenbin Deng, Ph.D. | Molecular mechanisms of neuronal and glial cell death, stem cell biology, and regenerative medicine |
| Elva Diaz, Ph.D. | Functional genomics of nervous system development, function and disease |
| Eamonn J. Dickson Ph.D. | Mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration |
| Brittany N. Dugger, Ph.D. | Neuropathology, neurodegenerative diseases, digital pathology, disease heterogeneity, health equity |
| Audrey Fan, Ph.D. | Neuroimaging of cerebrovascular disease and dementia; MRI, PET, cerebral blood flow |
| Mike Ferns, Ph.D. | Cellular and molecular basis of synapse formation in the mammalian nervous system |
| Kyle Fink, Ph.D. | Therapeutic development for genetically-linked neurological disorders |
| Paul G. FitzGerald, Ph.D. | Ocular lens composition |
| Andrew S. Fox, Ph.D. | Neurobiology of “affective style” |
| Patrick M. Fuller, Ph.D. | Brain substrates of behavioral state control |
| Melanie Gareau, Ph.D. | Microbiota-gut-brain axis in models of inflammatory bowel disease |
| Simona Ghetti, Ph.D. | Development of memory and metamemory |
| Cecilia Giulivi, M.S., Ph.D. | Mitochondrial dysfunction in neurological disorders |
| Tom Glaser, M.D., Ph.D. | Genetic basis of mammalian eye development and congenital eye malformations |
| Frederic A. Gorin, M.D, Ph.D. | Neuropharmacology and Toxicology |
| John A. Gray, M.D., Ph.D. | Molecular and cellular mechanisms of synapse development and plasticity |
| Theanne N. Griffith, Ph.D. | Mechansism of encoding of thermal sensations |
| Fuzheng Guo, Ph.D. | Neural development; glial differentiation, myelination and remyelination in neurological disorders and animal models |
| Gene Gurkoff, Ph.D. | Developing therapies to improve neural connectivity for patients with neurological disease |
| Amanda E. Guyer, Ph.D. | Adolescent neurodevelopment in health and depression, anxiety, and substance use |
| Randi Hagerman, M.D. | Pediatric child development and behavior |
| Paul J. Hagerman, M.D., Ph.D. | Molecular underpinnings of the fragile X family of disorders |
| Tim Hanks, Ph.D. | Neural mechanisms of decision making and related disorders of brain function |
| Johannes Hell, Ph.D. | Molecular and cellular mechanisms of neurotransmission at synapses in the brain |
| Irva Hertz-Picciotto, Ph.D. | Environmental—Toxic chemicals, climate change, health disparities and neurodevelopment |
| Lee-Way Jin, M.D. Ph.D. | Neuropathology, autism, Alzheimer's disease |
| Wilsaan M. Joiner, Ph.D. | Sensorimotor integration, motor learning/control, and clinical applications. |
| Sanjay Joshi, Ph.D. | Robotics, Human-Machine Interfaces (including Brain-Computer Interfaces), Prosthetics, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Rehabilitation |
| Jinoh Kim, Ph.D. | Intracellular Protein Trafficking and Human Diseases |
| Paul Knoepfler, Ph.D. | Epigenetics in stem cells and cancer |
| Janine LaSalle, Ph.D. | Epigenetics in human autism-spectrum disorders |
| Pamela J. Lein, Ph.D. | Impacts of environmental stressors on the developing and aging brain |
| Da Zhi Liu, Ph.D. | Cancer elements in neurological diseases; traumatic brain injury, ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke |
| Angie Louie, Ph.D. | Contrast agents, noninvasive imaging, cardiovascular disease, inflammation |
| Steven J. Luck, Ph.D. | Basic and translational cognitive neuroscience |
| Bruce G. Lyeth, Ph.D. | Preclinical studies of traumatic brain injury focusing on secondary injury mechanisms and development of therapies. |
| Allan Martin, M.D. Ph.D., F.R.C.S.C. | Spine imaging and surgery |
| Verónica Martínez Cerdeño, Ph.D. | Anatomy and pathology of autism and related conditions |
| A. Kimberley McAllister, Ph.D. | Synapse formation and plasticity; neuroimmune contributions to development and disease |
| John H. Morrison, Ph.D. | Neurobiology of aging and neurodegenerative disorders; Cortical structure and function |
| Karen Moxon, Ph.D. | Neural encoding and plasticity, neuroprosthetics, neuroengineering, brain-machine interfaces |
| Jan Nolta, Ph.D. | Understanding the dynamics of stem cell migration and attraction to sites of injury |
| Martha O'Donnell, Ph.D. | Cellular mechanisms of brain water and electrolyte homeostasis in health and disease |
| David E. Olson, Ph.D. | Compound-induced neural plasticity and the development of neurotherapeutics |
| Temitayo Oyegbile-Chidi M.D., Ph.D. | Epilepsy and sleep disorders in children and young adults |
| Carolynn Patten, Ph.D., P.T., F.A.P.T.A. | Neural basis of human movement, investigating human motor control and learning from a perspective of neuromechanics |
| Isaac Pessah, Ph.D. | Molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating ryanodine receptors and Ca2+ signaling |
| David E. Pleasure, M.D. | Pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis and leukodystrophies; novel treatments for leukodystrophies |
| Edward N. Pugh, Jr., Ph.D. | Phototransduction in mouse cone photoreceptors |
| Gregg Recanzone, Ph.D. | role of the cerebral cortex in the perception of auditory signals and age-related hearing loss |
| David P. Richman, M.D. | Diseases of the neuromuscular synapse |
| Stephen K. Robinson, Ph.D. | Augmentation and extension of human capabilities and performance in safety-critical environments. |
| Michael A. Rogawski, M.D., Ph.D. | Cellular and synaptic neurophysiology; neurosteroids; epilepsy and migraine; drug development. |
| Karen Ryan, Ph.D. | Neuroendocrine mechanisms by which environmental signals influence systemic metabolism; stress-related and metabolic disease |
| Julie Schweitzer, Ph.D. | Attention and impulsivity in children and adults in typical development and in ADHD |
| David J. Segal, Ph.D. | Genome and epigenomic editing for the study and treatment of neurologic disorders |
| Erkin Seker, Ph.D. | Multifunctional electrodes; nucleic acid sensors; microfluidic tissue models |
| Kia Shahlaie, M.D., Ph.D. | Deep brain stimulation techniques to improve learning and memory function; traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease |
| Julia Devi Sharma, M.D., F.R.C.S.C, F.A.A.N.S. | Surgical treatment of epilepsy; technical optimization of SEEG and intracranial recordings to study cognition |
| Frank R. Sharp, M.D. | Gene expression of blood in patients with stroke, Alzheimer's, autism and Tourette syndrome |
| Jill L. Silverman, Ph.D. | Curative, precision strategies for single gene caused neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), intellectual disabilities and pediatric epilepsies |
| Tyrell Simkins, D.O, Ph.D. |
Myelin/oligodendrocyte biology; neuroimmunologic disorders |
| Scott Simon, Ph.D. | Biomechanics of cells and tissues, neutrophil biology, vascular engineering, fluorescence flow cytometry |
| Vivek Srinivasan, Ph.D. | Biomedical optics, neuroimaging, vision, photonics, microscopy |
| Boryana Stamova, M.S., M.S., Ph.D. | Transcriptomic architecture in disease; biomarkers for precision medicine |
| Sergey Stavisky, Ph.D. | Brain-computer interfaces for restoring speech and reach & grasp |
| Flora Tassone, Ph.D. | Transcriptional and translational regulation of fragile X (FMR1) gene |
| Olivia Tong, M.D. | Targeted cellular therapy for autoimmune myasthenia gravis |
| Judith Anne Van de Water, Ph.D. | Neuroimmunology, clinical immunology and immunopathology, gestational immune environment |
| Aijun Wang, Ph.D. | Novel tools, technologies, and therapeutics for tissue regeneration, especially in the CNS |
| Jennifer L. Whistler, Ph.D. | Effects of clinically important drugs and drugs of abuse on the brain |
| Yang K. Xiang, Ph.D. | Molecular mechanisms underlying diabetes, heart failure, and Alzheimer's disease |
| Karen Zito, Ph.D. | Molecular and cellular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity in learning and disease |