Assistant Professor of Neuroscience
Education
BA, BS, Art History & Neuroscience
PhD, Neuroscience, George Washington University
Postdoctoral Training, University of California, Los Angeles
Location
Campus: Boston
Office: South Cove 205
Laboratory: South Cove 201
Contact Information
Office Phone: 617-636-3595
Lab Phone: 617-636-3815
E-mail 
Links
Research Web Site 
Recent Publications 
Graduate Programs
Neuroscience, Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics
Research Synopsis
Research in my lab focuses on the regulation of GABAA receptors (GABAARs), which mediate the majority of inhibitory synaptic transmission in the central nervous system. Our goal is to understand how GABAARs and therefore GABAergic inhibition, is regulation under both physiological and pathological conditions. We use a wide variety of approaches, ranging from electrophysiology to behavior. A particular focus of the lab is the GABAergic regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which mediates the body's response to stress. Stress is a common trigger for many disorders, probably due to the impact of stress hormones on neuronal excitabilility. The major output of the stress response, neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus, are under GABAergic control. Our goal is to determine the nature of GABAAR regulation of the PVN and to understand how dysfunction affects the pathophysiology of neurologicial and neuropsychiatric disorders.
Lab Members
Andrew Hooper, PhD Student in Neuroscience 
Vallent Lee, MD, PhD Student in Neuroscience
Georgina MacKenzie, Postdoctoral Scholar
Kate O'Toole, Postdoctoral Scholar 
