Brain, Behavior, Psychiatric and Neurologic Disorders
Brain, Behavior, Psychiatric and Neurologic Disorders - BBPND
Research related to normal neural development and neuro-developmental disorders, behavior, adaptation to injury and disease, psychiatric disorders.
Faculty

Hubert Amrein, PhD
Amrein@tamu.edu | 979.436.0799 | Office: MREB-II, 1348
Research Interest
Internal Nutrient Sensing; Brain-Gut Axis; Glucose Metabolism
Graduate Program Affiliation
- Medical Science PhD Program
- Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics
- Texas A&M University Institute for Neuroscience
Publications
- Miyamoto T, Amrein H. Neuronal Gluconeogenesis Regulates Systemic Glucose Homeostasis in Drosophila melanogaster. Curr Biol.2019 Apr 22;29(8):1263-1272
- Mishra D, Thorne N, Miyamoto C, Jagge C, Amrein H. The taste of ribonucleosides: Novel macronutrients essential for larval growth are sensed by Drosophila gustatory receptor proteins. PLoS Biol. 2018;16(8):e2005570. Published 2018 Aug 7. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2005570
- Fujii S, Yavuz A, Slone J, Jagge C, Song X, Amrein H. Drosophila sugar receptors in sweet taste perception, olfaction, and internal nutrient sensing. Curr Biol. 2015;25(5):621-627. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.12.058

Vytas Bankaitis, PhD
vytas@tamu.edu | 979.436.0757 | Office: REYNOLDS, 116
Research Interest
Neural stem cell biology, neurodegenerative diseases, autism, lipid signaling, lipid metabolism
Graduate Program Affiliation
- Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics
- Doctoral Program in Biochemistry & Biophysics
- Graduate Program in Chemistry
Publications
- Xie Z, Jones A, Deeney JT, Hur SK, Bankaitis VA. Inborn Errors of Long-Chain Fatty Acid β-Oxidation Link Neural Stem Cell Self-Renewal to Autism. Cell Rep. 2016;14(5):991-999. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2016.01.004
- Xie Z, Hur SK, Zhao L, Abrams CS, Bankaitis VA. A Golgi Lipid Signaling Pathway Controls Apical Golgi Distribution and Cell Polarity during Neurogenesis. Dev Cell. 2018;44(6):725-740.e4. doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2018.02.025
- Bankaitis VA, Xie Z. The neural stem cell/carnitine malnutrition hypothesis: new prospects for effective reduction of autism risk?. J Biol Chem. 2019;294(50):19424-19435. doi:10.1074/jbc.AW119.008137

Adam Case, PhD
acase@tamu.edu | 979.436.0757 | Office: REYNOLDS, 116
Research Interest
Cross-talk between the immune system and the brain in mental health disorders
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
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Moshfegh CM, Elkhatib SK, Collins CW, Kohl AJ, Case AJ. Autonomic and Redox Imbalance Correlates With T-Lymphocyte Inflammation in a Model of Chronic Social Defeat Stress. Front Behav Neurosci. 2019 May 14;13:103. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00103. PMID: 31139062; PMCID: PMC6527882.
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Elkhatib SK, Moshfegh CM, Watson GF, Case AJ. Peripheral inflammation is strongly linked to elevated zero maze behavior in repeated social defeat stress. Brain Behav Immun. 2020 Nov;90:279-285. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2020.08.031. Epub 2020 Sep 3. PMID: 32890698; PMCID: PMC7568442.
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Safwan K. Elkhatib, Cassandra M. Moshfegh, Gabrielle F. Watson, Aaron D. Schwab, Kenichi Katsurada, Kaushik P. Patel, Adam J. Case. Splenic denervation attenuates repeated social defeat stress-induced T-lymphocyte inflammation. BioRxiv 2021.01.16.426952; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.16.426952

Jiang Chang, MD, PhD
jiangchang@tamu.edu | 713.677.7603 | Office: ALKEK, 820F
Research Interest
Hydrocephalus, PTSD, biomarkers
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Lin X, Liu B, Yang X, et al. Genetic deletion of Rnd3 results in aqueductal stenosis leading to hydrocephalus through up-regulation of Notch signaling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013;110(20):8236-8241. doi:10.1073/pnas.1219995110

Shaunna Clark, PhD
slclark@tamu.edu | 979.436.0179
Research Interest
Genetic and epigenetic basis of addiction and mental health; Statistical methods development
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Clark SL, Hattab MW, Chan RF, et al. A methylation study of long-term depression risk. Mol Psychiatry. 2020;25(6):1334-1343. doi:10.1038/s41380-019-0516-z
- Clark SL, Costin BN, Chan RF, et al. A Whole Methylome Study of Ethanol Exposure in Brain and Blood: An Exploration of the Utility of Peripheral Blood as Proxy Tissue for Brain in Alcohol Methylation Studies. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2018;42(12):2360-2368. doi:10.1111/acer.13905
- Clark SL, Gillespie NA, Adkins DE, Kendler KS, Neale MC. Psychometric modeling of abuse and dependence symptoms across six illicit substances indicates novel dimensions of misuse. Addict Behav. 2016;53:132-140. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.10.015

Paul Derry, PhD
derry@tamu.edu | 713.677.7515 | Office: ALKEK, 1004A
Research Interest
Neuroprotective antioxidant nanomaterials and iron-mediated neurotoxicity
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Derry PJ, Hegde ML, Jackson GR, et al. Revisiting the intersection of amyloid, pathologically modified tau and iron in Alzheimer's disease from a ferroptosis perspective. Prog Neurobiol. 2020;184:101716. doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2019.101716
- Dharmalingam P, Talakatta G, Mitra J, et al. Pervasive Genomic Damage in Experimental Intracerebral Hemorrhage: Therapeutic Potential of a Mechanistic-Based Carbon Nanoparticle. ACS Nano. 2020;14(3):2827-2846. doi:10.1021/acsnano.9b05821
- Mendoza K, Derry PJ, Cherian LM, et al. Functional and Structural Improvement with a Catalytic Carbon Nano-Antioxidant in Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury Complicated by Hypotension and Resuscitation. J Neurotrauma. 2019;36(13):2139-2146. doi:10.1089/neu.2018.6027

David Earnest, PhD
dearnest@tamu.edu | 979.436.0328 | Office: MREB, 2004
Research Interest
Role of circadian rhythm disruption in human health disorders (cancer, metabolic disease, stroke)
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Earnest, D.J., Neuendorff, N., Coffman, J., Selvamani, A. and Sohrabji, F. (2016) Sex differences in the impact of shift work schedules on pathological outcomes in an animal model of ischemic stroke. Endocrinology 157(7): 2836–2843.
- Kim,S.-M., Neuendorff, N., Alaniz, R.C., Sun, Y., Chapkin, R.S. and Earnest, D.J. (2018) Shift work cycle-induced alterations of circadian rhythms potentiate the effects of high fat diet on inflammation and metabolism. FASEB J 2: 3085-3095. doi: 0.1096/fj.201700784R.

Cedric Geoffroy, PhD
geoffroy@tamu.edu | 979.436.9023 | Office: MREB, 4100
Research Interest
Spinal cord injury, neurotrauma
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Sutherland TC, Geoffroy CG. The Influence of Neuron-Extrinsic Factors and Aging on Injury Progression and Axonal Repair in the Central Nervous System. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020;8:190. Published 2020 Mar 25. doi:10.3389/fcell.2020.00190
- Geoffroy CG, Hilton BJ, Tetzlaff W, Zheng B. Evidence for an Age-Dependent Decline in Axon Regeneration in the Adult Mammalian Central Nervous System. Cell Rep. 2016;15(2):238-246. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2016.03.028

John Hettema, MD, PhD
hettema@tamu.edu | 804.516.3276
Research Interest
Developmental mechanisms of anxiety and related disorders
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
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Hettema JM, Bourdon JL, Sawyers C, et al. Genetic and environmental risk structure of internalizing psychopathology in youth. Depress Anxiety. 2020;37(6):540-548. doi:10.1002/da.23024
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Rappaport LM, Carney DM, Brotman MA, et al. A Population-Based Twin Study of Childhood Irritability and Internalizing Syndromes. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2020;49(4):524-534. doi:10.1080/15374416.2018.1514612
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Rappaport LM, Carney DM, Verhulst B, et al. A Developmental Twin Study of Emotion Recognition and Its Negative Affective Clinical Correlates. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2018;57(12):925-933.e3. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2018.05.028

Michelle Hook, PhD
michellehook@tamu.edu | 979.436.0568
Research Interest
Recovery of function following a spinal cord injury (SCI).
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Hook MA, Woller SA, Bancroft E, et al. Neurobiological Effects of Morphine after Spinal Cord Injury. J Neurotrauma. 2017;34(3):632-644. doi:10.1089/neu.2016.4507
- Brakel K, Aceves AR, Aceves M, Hierholzer A, Nguyen QN, Hook MA. Depression-like behavior corresponds with cardiac changes in a rodent model of spinal cord injury. Exp Neurol. 2019;320:112969. doi:10.1016/j.expneurol.2019.112969
- Luedtke K, Bouchard SM, Woller SA, Funk MK, Aceves M, Hook MA. Assessment of depression in a rodent model of spinal cord injury. J Neurotrauma. 2014;31(12):1107-1121. doi:10.1089/neu.2013.3204

Thomas Kent, MD
tkent@tamu.edu | 713.677.7523 | Office: ALKEK, 1004
Research Interest
Stroke, trauma, neurodegeneration, nanomedicine
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Dharmalingam P, Talakatta G, Mitra J, et al. Pervasive Genomic Damage in Experimental Intracerebral Hemorrhage: Therapeutic Potential of a Mechanistic-Based Carbon Nanoparticle. ACS Nano. 2020;14(3):2827-2846. doi:10.1021/acsnano.9b05821
- Mendoza K, Derry PJ, Cherian LM, et al. Functional and Structural Improvement with a Catalytic Carbon Nano-Antioxidant in Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury Complicated by Hypotension and Resuscitation. J Neurotrauma. 2019;36(13):2139-2146. doi:10.1089/neu.2018.6027
- Derry PJ, Hegde ML, Jackson GR, et al. Revisiting the intersection of amyloid, pathologically modified tau and iron in Alzheimer's disease from a ferroptosis perspective. Prog Neurobiol. 2020;184:101716. doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2019.101716

Julian Leibowitz, MD, PhD
jleibowitz@tamu.edu | 979.436.0313 | Office: MREB-II, 3224C
Research Interest
Persistent infections of the CNS by coronaviruses and Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus
Graduate Program Affiliation
- Medical Science PhD Program
- Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics
- Texas A&M University Institute for Neuroscience
Publications
- Bijalwan M, Young CR, Tingling J, et al. Characterization of Plaque-Sized Variants of Daniel's (DA) Strain in Theiler's Virus-Induced Epilepsy. Sci Rep. 2019;9(1):3444. Published 2019 Mar 5. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-38967-z
- Oleszak EL, Leibowitz JL, Rodriguez M. Isolation and characterization of two plaque size variants of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (DA strain). J Gen Virol. 1988;69 ( Pt 9):2413-2418. doi:10.1099/0022-1317-69-9-2413
- Rodriguez M, Pavelko KD, McKinney CW, Leibowitz JL. Recombinant human IL-6 suppresses demyelination in a viral model of multiple sclerosis. J Immunol. 1994;153(8):3811-3821.

Rajesh Miranda, PhD
rmiranda@tamu.edu | 979.436.0332 | Office: MREB
Research Interest
Fetal brain development, ncRNAs, neural stem cells
Graduate Program Affiliation
- Medical Science PhD Program
- Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics
- Texas A&M University Institute for Neuroscience
- Texas A&M University Interdisciplinary Faculty of Toxicology
- Master of Biotechnology Program
Publications
- Tseng AM, Chung DD, Pinson MR, Salem NA, Eaves SE, Miranda RC. Ethanol Exposure Increases miR-140 in Extracellular Vesicles: Implications for Fetal Neural Stem Cell Proliferation and Maturation. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2019;43(7):1414-1426. doi:10.1111/acer.14066

Samba Reddy, PhD, RPh, FAAPS, FAAAS
sambareddy@tamu.edu | 919.539.8721 | Office: MREB, 2008
Research Interest
Epilepsy and brain diseases, neurotherapeutics
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Reddy SD, Wu X, Kuruba R, Sridhar V, Reddy DS. Magnetic resonance imaging analysis of long-term neuropathology after exposure to the nerve agent soman: correlation with histopathology and neurological dysfunction [published online ahead of print, 2020 Jul 15]. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2020;10.1111/nyas.14431. doi:10.1111/nyas.14431
- Reddy DS, Estes WA. Clinical Potential of Neurosteroids for CNS Disorders. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2016;37(7):543-561. doi:10.1016/j.tips.2016.04.003
- Younus I, Reddy DS. Epigenetic interventions for epileptogenesis: A new frontier for curing epilepsy. Pharmacol Ther. 2017;177:108-122. doi:10.1016/j.pharmthera.2017.03.002

Mendell Rimer, PhD
rimer@tamu.edu | 979.436.0334 | Office: MREB, 4008
Research Interest
Developmental neuroscience, synapse formation, maintenance, and pathology, neuromuscular diseases
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Rimer M. Extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 regulate neuromuscular junction and myofiber phenotypes in mammalian skeletal muscle. Neurosci Lett. 2020;715:134671. doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2019.134671
- Seaberg B, Henslee G, Wang S, Paez-Colasante X, Landreth GE, Rimer M. Muscle-derived extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 are required for the maintenance of adult myofibers and their neuromuscular junctions. Mol Cell Biol. 2015;35(7):1238-1253. doi:10.1128/MCB.01071-14
- Paez-Colasante X, Seaberg B, Martinez TL, Kong L, Sumner CJ, Rimer M. Improvement of neuromuscular synaptic phenotypes without enhanced survival and motor function in severe spinal muscular atrophy mice selectively rescued in motor neurons. PLoS One. 2013;8(9):e75866. Published 2013 Sep 23. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0075866

Lee Shapiro, PhD
lshapiro@tamu.edu | 979.436.0272 | Office: MREB
Research Interest
Traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, neuroinflammation, immunology, neuroanatomy, neurogenesis, glia
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
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Tobin RP, Mukherjee S, Kain JM, et al. Traumatic brain injury causes selective, CD74-dependent peripheral lymphocyte activation that exacerbates neurodegeneration. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2014;2:143. Published 2014 Oct 20. doi:10.1186/s40478-014-0143-5
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Shapiro LA, Ribak CE. Integration of newly born dentate granule cells into adult brains: hypotheses based on normal and epileptic rodents. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 2005;48(1):43-56. doi:10.1016/j.brainresrev.2004.08.003
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Ribak CE, Shapiro LA, Perez ZD, Spigelman I. Microglia-associated granule cell death in the normal adult dentate gyrus. Brain Struct Funct. 2009;214(1):25-35. doi:10.1007/s00429-009-0231-7

Ashok Shetty, PhD
akskrs@tamu.edu | 979.436.9653 | Office: REYNOLDS, 240A
Research Interest
Traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, AD & Gulf War illness: pathophysiology & therapeutic strategies
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Upadhya D, Hattiangady B, Castro OW, et al. Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived MGE cell grafting after status epilepticus attenuates chronic epilepsy and comorbidities via synaptic integration. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019;116(1):287-296. doi:10.1073/pnas.1814185115
- Shetty AK, Attaluri S, Kodali M, et al. Monosodium luminol reinstates redox homeostasis, improves cognition, mood and neurogenesis, and alleviates neuro- and systemic inflammation in a model of Gulf War Illness. Redox Biol.
- Kodali M, Megahed T, Mishra V, Shuai B, Hattiangady B, Shetty AK. Voluntary Running Exercise-Mediated Enhanced Neurogenesis Does Not Obliterate Retrograde Spatial Memory. J Neurosci. 2016;36(31):8112-8122. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0766-16.2016

Laura Smith, PhD
laura.smith@tamu.edu | 979.436.0303 | Office: MREB, 4104
Research Interest
Regulation of synapse plasticity in striatum and neuropsychiatric disorders
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Ma T, Huang Z, Xie X, Cheng Y, Zhuang X, Childs MJ, Gangal H, Wang X, Smith LN, Smith RJ, Zhou Y, Wang J. Chronic alcohol drinking persistently suppresses thalamostriatal excitation of cholinergic neurons to impair cognitive flexibility. J Clin Invest. 2022 Feb 15;132(4). doi: 10.1172/JCI154969. PubMed PMID: 34941575; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8843706.
- Huebschman JL, Davis MC, Tovar Pensa C, Guo Y, Smith LN. The fragile X mental retardation protein promotes adjustments in cocaine self-administration that preserve reinforcement level. Eur J Neurosci. 2021 Aug;54(3):4920-4933. doi:10.1111/ejn.15356. Epub 2021 Jun 28. PubMed PMID: 34133054.
- Huebschman JL, Corona KS, Guo Y, Smith LN. The Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein Regulates Striatal Medium Spiny Neuron Synapse Density and Dendritic Spine Morphology. Front Mol Neurosci. 2020;13:161. doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2020.00161. eCollection 2020. PubMed PMID: 33013316; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7511717.

Farida Sohrabji, PhD
f-sohrabji@tamu.edu | 979.436.0335 | Office: MREB, 4102
Research Interest
Sex differences, women's health, gut-brain axis, stroke, Alzhiemer's disease
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Panta A, Pandey S, Duncan IN, Duhamel S, Sohrabji F. Mir363-3p attenuates post-stroke depressive-like behaviors in middle-aged female rats. Brain Behav Immun. 2019;78:31-40. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2019.01.003
Rahul Srinivasan, PhD
rahul@tamu.edu | 979.436.0289 | Office: MREB, 4012
Research Interest
The role of astrocytes in Parkinson's disease and clinically translatable therapies for Parkinson's
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
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Srinivasan R, Henley BM, Henderson BJ, et al. Smoking-Relevant Nicotine Concentration Attenuates the Unfolded Protein Response in Dopaminergic Neurons. J Neurosci. 2016;36(1):65-79. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2126-15.2016
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Srinivasan R, Henderson BJ, Lester HA, Richards CI. Pharmacological chaperoning of nAChRs: a therapeutic target for Parkinson's disease. Pharmacol Res. 2014;83:20-29. doi:10.1016/j.phrs.2014.02.005
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Srinivasan R, Lu TY, Chai H, et al. New Transgenic Mouse Lines for Selectively Targeting Astrocytes and Studying Calcium Signals in Astrocyte Processes In Situ and In Vivo. Neuron. 2016;92(6):1181-1195. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2016.11.030

Robert Tsai, MD, PhD
robtsai@tamu.edu | 713.677.7690
Research Interest
Neurodegeneration and regeneration
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Tsai RY, McKay RD. A nucleolar mechanism controlling cell proliferation in stem cells and cancer cells. Genes Dev. 2002;16(23):2991-3003. doi:10.1101/gad.55671

Vladimir Vladimirov, MD, PhD
vivladimirov@tamu.edu | 979.436.9708
Research Interest
Molecular pathology of neuropsychiatric disorders
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Vornholt E, Luo D, Qiu W, McMichael GO, Liu Y, Gillespie N, Ma C, Vladimirov VI. Postmortem brain tissue as an underutilized resource to study the molecular pathology of neuropsychiatric disorders across different ethnic populations. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2019 Jul;102:195-207. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.04.015. Epub 2019 Apr 24. PMID: 31028758; PMCID: PMC6643003.
- Vornholt E, Drake J, Mamdani M, McMichael G, Taylor ZN, Bacanu SA, Miles MF, Vladimirov VI. Identifying a novel biological mechanism for alcohol addiction associated with circRNA networks acting as potential miRNA sponges. Addict Biol. 2021 Nov;26(6):e13071. doi: 10.1111/adb.13071. Epub 2021 Jun 23. PMID: 34164896; PMCID: PMC8590811.
- Kim AH, Reimers M, Maher B, Williamson V, McMichael O, McClay JL, van den Oord EJ, Riley BP, Kendler KS, Vladimirov VI. MicroRNA expression profiling in the prefrontal cortex of individuals affected with schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. Schizophr Res. 2010 Dec;124(1-3):183-91. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2010.07.002. Epub 2010 Aug 2. PMID: 20675101; PMCID: PMC4373420.

Jun Wang, PhD
jwang188@tamu.edu | 979.436.0389 | Office: MREB, 2106
Research Interest
Drug and alcohol addiction, basal ganalia, plasticity, electrophysiology, optogenetics, behavior
Graduate Program Affiliation
- Medical Science PhD Program
- Texas A&M University Institute for Neuroscience
- Texas A&M University Interdisciplinary Faculty of Toxicology
Publications
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Ma T, Cheng Y, Roltsch Hellard E, Wang X, Lu J, Gao X, Huang CCY, Wei XY, Ji JY, Wang J. Bidirectional and long-lasting control of alcohol-seeking behavior by corticostriatal LTP and LTD. Nat Neurosci. 2018 Mar;21(3):373-383. doi: 10.1038/s****************. Epub 2018 Feb 12. PMID: 29434375; PMCID: PMC5857235.
- Cheng Y, Huang CCY, Ma T, et al. Distinct Synaptic Strengthening of the Striatal Direct and Indirect Pathways Drives Alcohol Consumption. Biol Psychiatry. 2017;81(11):918-929. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.05.016
- Wang J, Cheng Y, Wang X, et al. Alcohol Elicits Functional and Structural Plasticity Selectively in Dopamine D1 Receptor-Expressing Neurons of the Dorsomedial Striatum. J Neurosci. 2015;35(33):11634-11643. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0003-15.2015

Robert Watson, PhD, MPH
robert.watson@tamu.edu | 979.436.0342 | MREB, 3100
Research Interest
Connections between infection, peripheral immune responses, and neuroinflammation
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Weindel CG, Bell SL, Vail KJ, West KO, Patrick KL, Watson RO. LRRK2 maintains mitochondrial homeostasis and regulates innate immune responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Elife. 2020;9:e51071. Published 2020 Feb 14. doi:10.7554/eLife.51071
- Patrick KL, Bell SL, Weindel CG, Watson RO. Exploring the "Multiple-Hit Hypothesis" of Neurodegenerative Disease: Bacterial Infection Comes Up to Bat. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2019;9:138. Published 2019 May 28. doi:10.3389/fcimb.2019.00138

Gregg Wells, MD, PhD
gbwells@tamu.edu | 979.436.0780 | Office: REYNOLDS, 226
Research Interest
Role of protein structure and function in diseases, particularly in neurological diseases
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Person AM, Wells GB. Characterizing low affinity epibatidine binding to α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors with ligand depletion and nonspecific binding. BMC Biophys. 2011;4:19. Published 2011 Nov 23. doi:10.1186/2046-1682-4-19
- Gallant JR, Traeger LL, Volkening JD, et al. Nonhuman genetics. Genomic basis for the convergent evolution of electric organs. Science. 2014;344(6191):1522-1525. doi:10.1126/science.1254432
- Person AM, Bills KL, Liu H, Botting SK, Lindstrom J, Wells GB. Extracellular domain nicotinic acetylcholine receptors formed by alpha4 and beta2 subunits. J Biol Chem. 2005;280(48):39990-40002. doi:10.1074/jbc.M505087200

Keith Young, PhD
kayoung@tamu.edu | 254.760.5568 | Office: MREB-II, 2310
Research Interest
Stereology, PTSD, stress, brain spatial spectroscopy
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Young KA, Thompson PM, Cruz DA, Williamson DE, Selemon LD. BA11 FKBP5 expression levels correlate with dendritic spine density in postmortem PTSD and controls. Neurobiol Stress. 2015;2:67-72. Published 2015 Sep 3. doi:10.1016/j.ynstr.2015.07.002

Yubin Zhou, MD, PhD
yubinzhou@tamu.edu | 713.677.7483 | Office: ALKEK, 925
Research Interest
Neuro-oncology, optogenetics, chemogenetics, and neurodegenerative diseases
Graduate Program Affiliation
Publications
- Liu Z, Li H, He L, et al. Discovery of Small-Molecule Inhibitors of the HSP90-Calcineurin-NFAT Pathway against Glioblastoma. Cell Chem Biol. 2019;26(3):352-365.e7. doi:10.1016/j.chembiol.2018.11.009
- Ma G, Liu J, Ke Y, et al. Optogenetic Control of Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2018;57(24):7019-7022. doi:10.1002/anie.201713080
- Lee M, Li J, Liang Y, et al. Engineered Split-TET2 Enzyme for Inducible Epigenetic Remodeling. J Am Chem Soc. 2017;139(13):4659-4662. doi:10.1021/jacs.7b01459
Keywords: Brain and spinal trauma, cerebrovascular stroke and other neurovascular dysfunction, neuroinflammation, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, neuro-oncology, neuro-muscular disease, autonomic dysfunction, brain-gut and brain-endocrine function, addiction, psychosocial trauma and social determinants of brain health, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, depression, schizophrenia, computational neuroscience, epilepsy, seizures, neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)