Neuroscientists in the Department of Physiology bring a strong interdisciplinary scientific approach to the study of the nervous system. Our students, post-docs and faculty are using molecular, cell biological, anatomical, electrophysiological, behavioral, and optical techniques to understand how the brain develops, how neurons communicate with each other, how brain cells maintain ionic homeostasis, and how these vital processes are disturbed in diseases such as epilepsy, Down’s syndrome, Alzheimer’s, and neuromuscular disease.
Faculty in the Department of Physiology are internationally recognized for their research into the cellular and molecular aspects of membrane physiology. Understanding the function of ion channels, transporters and pumps, as well as structural proteins and cell adhesion molecules, lends insight into a variety of physiological processes. Researchers are attempting to understand how membranes maintain chemical gradients, regulate excitability and mediate signal transduction. See http://membranebiology.umaryland.edu for more information.
The control of reproduction involves diverse organs including the brain, pituitary, gonads and reproductive tract. Researchers in the Department of Physiology are focused primarily on the control of female reproduction with emphasis on the development of the neuroendocrine axis, ovarian and uterine physiology and the regulation and function of steroid receptors. This basic research group interacts strongly with population based and clinical researchers in an Organized Research Center in Women’s Health. Visit http://csr.umaryland.edu for more information.
Members of the Department of Physiology conduct cutting edge research into the basic cellular mechanisms of hormone action. These studies illuminate our understanding of diverse processes such as growth and development, as well as specific diseases such as prostate cancer and diabetes.
Functional Genomics and Molecular Medicine Research Group
The Department of Physiology is responding to the opportunities and challenges of the post-genome sequencing era. We are translating sequence information into an understanding of gene function in health and disease, cracking the code of life. Research programs highlight all areas of the field, including molecular genetics, transgenic and gene knockout technology, physiological genomics, mutagenesis and heterologous expression, analysis of protein-protein interactions, and DNA microarray technology. By combining modern genetic tools with state-of-the-art techniques in physiology, cell biology and neuroscience, our graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and faculty are discovering how genes work in health and fail in disease. See http://genefun.umaryland.edu for more information on our training program.
Functional Genomics and Molecular Medicine Faculty and Interest
Robert Bloch, The structure and function of the membrane systems in muscle, and the effects of muscular dystrophy and other myopathies
Cardiovascular and Renal Physiology Research Group
Faculty in the Department of Physiology are internationally recognized for their research into the cellular and molecular aspects of cardiovascular and kidney function. We employ an interdisciplinary approach, using molecular, cell biological, electrophysiological, transgenic, functional genomic and optical techniques to understand how the cardiovascular-renal system works. Many of our graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and faculty are focused on elucidating the mechanisms of human disease, including hypertension, heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias and inherited disorders of salt and water balance.
Meredith Bond, The role of A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) in protein kinase A (PKA) targeting; genomic and proteomic analysis of human heart failure.
Vera Golovina, Understanding the mechanisms of regulation of Ca2+ signaling in glial and vascular smooth muscle cells and its role in physiological and pathophysiological processes
John Hamyln, Endogenous ouabain and mechanisms of hypertension
Matthew Trudeau, The molecular specializations underlying ion channel function in potassium channels activated by voltage and cation channels activated by intracellular cyclic nucleotides
James Wade, Membrane Traffic Of Epithelial Transporters
W. Gill Wier, Calcium signaling in heart and vascular smooth muscle
E. J. Weinman, Molecular Mechanisms of Salt balance, PDZ based protein-protein interactions
Paul Welling, Molecular Mechanisms of Ion Channels in Salt Balance and Blood Pressure Control
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