Neuroscience Research Center
Meet the Team

Meet our Neuroscience Research Team

The center embraces a multidisciplinary approach, bringing together basic scientists, translational researchers and clinicians from divisions across the hospital with expertise in developmental neurobiology, neurogenetics, cognitive neuroscience, psychology, neurobiology of addiction, stress neurobiology, neurometabolism, pain, neuro-oncology and neurobiology of disease.
Research Interests
Developmental neurobiology; transcriptional control of neural cell subtype specification; neuronal circuit formation

Steven A. Crone, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Neurosurgery
Research Interests
Neural circuits that control breathing; airway protection; spinal cord injury; neurodegenerative disease; sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP)

Steve C. Danzer, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Anesthesia
Research Interests
Epilepsy; autism; neurodevelopmental disease

Craig A. Erickson, MD

Associate Professor
Research Interests
Fragile X syndrome; autism spectrum disorders; neurodevelopmental disorders; molecular blood markers; quantitative measurement of pathophysiology in...

Nathan K. Evanson, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Traumatic brain injury

Brian Gebelein, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Developmental genetics; Transcriptional regulation; Modeling disease alleles in mice, Drosophila, and human stem cells.

June Goto, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Neurosurgery
Research Interests
Pediatric hydrocephalus; genetic basis of hydrocephalus; cellular basis of hydrocephalus; ependymal cell biology; choroid plexus and cerebrospinal...

Christina Gross, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Molecular neuroscience, fragile X syndrome

Ziyuan Guo, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Epidemiology; diagnostic criteria; treatment evaluation; outcome responses; quality of life issues; pharmaceutical trials; and neurogenetics of...
Research Interests
Mechanisms of epileptogenesis
Research Interests
Neuroscience; pain research; sensory neuron biology

J. Matthew Kofron, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Early vertebrate patterning; germ layer formation

Qing Richard Lu, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Neoplastic stem cells; malignant glioma; pediatric brain tumors such as medulloblastoma, ependymoma, and diffuse midline gliomas (DMG / DIPG); tumor...

Francesco T. Mangano, DO, FACS, FAAP, FACOS

Professor, UC Department of Neurosurgery
Research Interests
Advanced MRI imaging techniques in children with congenital hydrocephalus.

Nancy Ratner, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Genetic mutations in tumor suppressor genes; development and tumorigenesis of the nervous system; peripheral NF1, NF2

J. Elliott Robinson, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Neurofibromatosis type 1; systems neuroscience; gene therapy; electrophysiology

Jesse Skoch, MD, FAANS, FACS

Associate Professor, UC Department of Neurosurgery
Research Interests
Epilepsy; optical imaging; biomedical engineering; hydrocephalus

Ying Sun, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Molecular pathogenesis and therapy of lysosomal storage diseases; glycosphingolipids metabolism; neurodegeneration.

Jason Tchieu, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Autism spectrum disorders; neurodevelopmental disorders; human pluripotent stem cells; directed differentiation; astrocytes; oligodendrocytes;...

Lubov Timchenko, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Molecular pathobiology and development of therapies for adult and congenital forms of neuro-muscular disease myotonic dystrophy type 1 and myotonic...

Sudhakar Vadivelu, DO

Associate Professor, UC Department of Neurosurgery
Research Interests
Stem cells; neurogenesis; modulation of cytokine activity  

Charles V. Vorhees, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Models of pediatric neurodevelopmental disorders; neurotoxicity of pesticides and manganese

Ronald R. Waclaw, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Forebrain progenitor cell differentiation; “RASopathy” genes

Jianqiang Wu, MD, MS

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Preclinical therapeutic trial on neurofibroma; cancer stem cell(s) in neurofibroma

University of Cincinnati Researchers

Mark Baccei, PhD
Pain; consequences of tissue injury during early life; spinal circuits
Department of Anesthesia

James Herman, PhD
Regulation of neuroendocrine and behavioral stress responses
UC Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience

Steve Davidson, PhD
Peripheral and central neurophysiology of pain and itch
UC Department of Anesthesia

Temugin Berta, PhD
Dorsal root ganglia and primary sensory neurons
Department of Anesthesia

Brandon Foreman, MD
Neurocritical care; clinical neurophysiology; neurotrauma
Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine

Tony Grillo, PhD
Research includes elucidating the etiology of mitochondrial Complex I deficiencies and oxygen dyshomeostasis in neurodegeneration, uncovering the role of transition metals in age-related diseases, and discovering novel interventions to treat mitochondrial inborn errors of metabolism.
Department of Chemistry

Gary Gudelsky, PhD
Neuropharmacology of amphetamines
James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy

Jed Hartings, PhD
Neurophysiology of brain trauma and stroke; spreading depolarizations
Department of Neurosurgery

Christian Hong, PhD
We seek to understand molecular mechanisms of circadian rhythms and their interconnected network with other cellular processes such as cell cycle, DNA damage response, and metabolism in order to design novel therapeutic regimens.
Department of Pharmacology & Systems Physiology

Winston Whei Yang Kao, PhD
Eye development; homeostasis and wound healing in adult corneas
Department of Ophthalmology

Agnes Luo, PhD
Molecular genetics, neuroscience, stroke, regenerative medicine, animal models of neurological diseases
Department of Molecular Genetics

John MacLennan, PhD
Neurodevelopment and neuroregeneration research
Department of Pharmacology & Systems Physiology

Jennifer McGuire, PhD
Traumatic brain injury
Department of Neurosurgery

Jayme McReynolds, PhD
Neurobiological mechanisms that underlie the influence of stress on the brain, addictive behavior, and cognitive processes in rodents
Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology

Ali Minai, PhD
AI, neural networks, complex systems and networks, computational models of cognition and behavior, social networks, distributed multi-agent systems, text analysis, and computational linguistics
College of Engineering and Applied Science

Laura B. Ngwenya, MD, PhD
We utilize clinical research, bioinformatics, and an experimental model of TBI to explore the underlying mechanisms of poor recovery after TBI and search for potential treatments.
Department of Neurosurgery

Teresa Reyes, PhD
Early life environment (nutrition, inflammation), brain development and cognition
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience

Matthew Robson, PhD
Understanding how traumatic brain injury (TBI) alters neuronal signaling and behavior that is associated with neuropsychiatric disorders
College of Pharmacy

Ashley Ross, PhD
Neurochemistry; microfluidics; protein analysis
Department of Chemistry

Renu Sah, PhD
Understanding the pathophysiology of anxiety, stress and trauma-associated disorders
Department of Pharmacology & Systems Physiology

Kim Seroogy, PhD
Stress, depression and Parkinson’s disease. Neuroprotection and neural repair in the injured nigrostriatal system.
Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine

Yvonne M Ulrich-Lai, PhD
Stress neurobiology; interactions between obesity and stress
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience

Ilya Vilinsky, PhD
Neuroscience education
Department of Biological Sciences

Eric Wohleb, PhD
We study how neuroimmune systems shape synaptic function and behavior in pathological and physiological conditions. To this end, we use multi-disciplinary approaches, including flow cytometry and cell sorting, cell type-specific molecular analyses (RNA-Seq), viral-mediated genetic and pharmacological manipulations, and imaging techniques to study pathways mediating neuro-immune interactions.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience

Jun-Ming Zhang, MD, MSc
Physiology and pathophysiology of neuropathic pain, sympathetic regulation of inflammatory response in pain, mechanisms and management of low back pain, sodium channels, ectopic discharges and pathological pain
Department of Anesthesia