neurobiology | Biology Graduate Admissions Pathways Program

Wilsaan Joiner

Associate Professor
Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior
College of Biological Sciences
Department of Neurology
School of Medicine

Wil Joiner studies how people use different sources of information to aid behavior, ranging from visual perception to movement planning and updating. Specifically, he studies in how external and internally-generated sensory information is integrated in healthy individuals, in comparison to certain disease and impaired populations (e.g., Schizophrenia and upper extremity amputees). Achieving this understanding may lead to better methods for diagnosing and treating impairments of the nervous system.

https://joinermotorlab.weebly.com/

Crystal Rogers

Assistant Professor
Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Cell Biology
School of Veterinary Medicine

Crystal Rogers examines how genetic and environmental changes affect early developmental processes in vertebrate embryos. Specifically, her lab studies embryos from two research organisms, chickens and amphibians, to identify the factors that are necessary and sufficient to drive the formation and differentiation of neural crest cells. Rogers and her students seek to understand the normal mechanisms that control the development of these cells and also to understand how environmental exposures can negatively affect development causing disorders such as cleft palate, peripheral nerve defects, albinism, and others.

https://www.crystalrogersphd.com/

Richard McKenney

Assistant Professor
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
College of Biological Sciences

Richard McKenney is interested in the fascinating world of molecular movement. His lab studies how cells internally organize using molecular motor proteins. In particular, they focus on the microtubule cytoskeleton and the motor proteins that use this filament system for transport (kinesins and dyneins). They are interested in allosteric regulation of motor protein movement, how motor activity is balanced and coordinated, and how dysfunction in motor activity leads to human diseases such as cancer and neurodegeneration. The lab combines advanced molecular biology, biochemistry and single-molecule TIRF microscopy to address these problems

Janine LaSalle

Professor
Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology
School of Medicine

Janine LaSalle is interested in the role epigenetics in human autism-spectrum disorders. Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in chromosomes that are not encoded in the DNA sequence, including DNA methylation and chromatin organization. The clinical applications of the research includes understanding the pathogenesis of the neurodevelopmental disorders autism, Rett syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, Dup15q, and Angelman syndrome. Her lab uses mouse models and samples from individuals with autism spectrum disorders to investigate the epigenetic mark of DNA methylation genome-wide using high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatic approaches.

https://mmi-lab.ucdavis.edu/

Elva Diaz

Professor
Department of Pharmacology
School of Medicine

Elva Diaz studies molecular mechanisms of brain development, function and disease in rodent model systems. We used expression profiling as a tool to identify genes that are developmentally regulated during mouse brain development. Candidate genes are characterized with molecular and cellular techniques and transgenic mice. Currently, we have focused our efforts on molecules that function at excitatory synapses in the hippocampus, an area of the brain important for learning and memory.