College
- Center City Campus
- College of Life Sciences
Degree Earned
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Doctorate
Program Length
4-5 years
Program Type
- On Campus
Contact Information
Program Director
Program Director
900 Walnut Street, Suite 400
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Program Coordinator
1020 Locust Street
M-46 JAH
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Connect with Us
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Research
Facilities
The laboratories of the Graduate Program in Neuroscience (GPN) faculty are housed in modern research buildings that are fully equipped to investigate cellular, molecular, behavioral and clinical neuroscience. These laboratories have active, extramurally-funded research programs in a variety of areas.
Individual laboratories and collaborative research cores provide contemporary methods in neuroscience. These include:
- Recombinant DNA technology and microarray analysis
- Protein biochemistry
- Mitochondrial bioenergetics
- Cell/tissue/organotypic culture
- Electrophysiology
- Behavioral suites
- Animal facilities
- Computer modeling/analysis
- Systems biology and bioinformatics
- Electron microscopy
- State of the art cell imaging facilities
Research Areas
Behavioral & Systems Neuroscience
The Behavioral & Systems Neuroscience faculty use a variety of techniques and technologies to better understand how the regulated activity of neural networks gives rise to complex behaviors.
Cell & Molecular Neuroscience
The Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience faculty aim to understand the molecular mechanisms behind complex biological processes such as neuronal differentiation, synapse development, regulation of ion channels and more within the central nervous system.
Neurobiology of Disease
The Neurobiology of Disease faculty study the etiology and potential therapeutics for a variety of diseases including, but not limited to, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, schizophrenia, autism and chronic pain.
Translational & Clinical Neuroscience
The Translational & Clinical Neuroscience faculty bridge the gap between the scientist’s bench and the patient’s bedside. These faculty are directly involved in studies with human patients at Jefferson.
Current Faculty Research
| Principal Investigators | Areas of Research |
|---|---|
| Jeffrey L. Benovic, PhD | How Does Dysfunctional Regulation of Signaling Contribute to Disease? |
| George C. Brainard, PhD | How Does Light Regulate Biology, Behavior and Therapeutic Responses in Humans? |
| Manuel Covarrubias, MD, PhD | What Mechanisms Govern the Function and Regulation of Voltage-Gated Potassium Channels in the Brain? |
| Matthew Dalva, PhD | What Mechanisms and Cell-Cell Signaling Govern the Formation of Excitatory Synapses? |
| Aaron Haeusler, PhD | How do Nucleotide Repeat Expansion Mutations Contribute to Neurodegenerative Diseases? |
| Ya-Ming Hou, PhD | How Do tRNA Functions Regulate Motor Neuron Activities in Health and Disease? |
| Lorraine Iacovitti, PhD | Can Stem Cells be Used to Model, Replace, or Repair Neurons at Risk for Dying During Progressive Disease (Parkinson’s) or After Acute Injury (Stroke)? |
| Kyunghee Koh, PhD | Why Do We Sleep and How is Sleep Regulated? |
| Angelo Lepore, PhD | Can Astrocytes be Targeted Therapeutically for Treating Spinal Cord Injury and ALS? |
| Le Ma, PhD | How do Neurons Build and Rebuild Neural Networks From Axons and Dendrites? |
| Silva Markovic-Plese, MD, PhD | What Are the Molecular Mechanisms Involved in Inflammatory Cell Migration in MS? |
| A. Sue Menko, PhD | What are the Pathways that Signal Cell Differentiation and How do Abbreviations in These Pathways Lead to Disease? |
| Diane Merry, PhD | How Does Polyglutamine Expansion in the Androgen Receptor Cause Motor Neuron Disease? |
| Timothy Mosca, PhD | How Do Synapses Form and Mature during Development? |
| Piera Pasinelli, PhD | How Do Motor Neurons Die in ALS? |
| A. M. Rostami, MD, PhD | What is Etiology and Pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis? |
| Jay S. Schneider, PhD | How Can We Improve the Lives of Parkinson's Disease Patients? |
| James S. Schwaber, PhD | How Can Maintenance of Homeostasis Involve Adaptive Molecular Processes? |
| Richard Smeyne, PhD | How Do We Protect a Person from Developing Parkinson’s Disease? |
| Davide Trotti, PhD | How Do Motor Neurons Die in ALS? |
| Mudit Tyagi, PhD | How Do Drugs of Abuse Affect Brain Functioning and Impact HIV? |
| Rajanikanth Vadigepalli, PhD | How to Manipulate, Control and Fine-tune Neuroinflammation |
| Scott Waldman, MD, PhD | What Signaling Pathways Linking the Gut and Brain Can Be Therapeutically Targeted in Obesity, Neurodegeneration, and Pain? |
| Philip Wedegaertner, PhD | How are Signaling Proteins Targeted to Different Locations Within A Cell? |
| Hui Zhang, PhD | What Causes Dopamine Neurons to Die in Parkinson’s Disease? |