Neuroscience Research Center

Meet the Team

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