Research Areas

Thamer Alsufayan and Mark D. Parker.

Doctoral student Thamer Alsufayan, left — mentored by Mark D. Parker, PhD — studies sodium bicarbonate cotransporters in the kidney and colon.

Members of our department are devoted to addressing difficult problems and advancing knowledge through their research.

Anthony Auerbach, PhD

  • Ligand-gated and synaptic-receptor ion channels
  • Molecular kinetics
  • Molecular basis of drug action

Mouhamed S. Awayda, PhD

  • Renal ion channels
  • Structure-function and regulation of epithelial sodium ion channels

Joan S. Baizer, PhD

  • Neuroanatomy and physiology of vision

Michael E. Duffey, PhD

  • Regulation of gastrointestinal and airway ion channels
  • Calcium channel function in gastrointestinal smooth muscle

Jian Feng, PhD

  • Molecular and cellular mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease
  • Stem cell biology

Wilma Hofmann, PhD

  • Molecular and cellular mechanisms of prostate cancer initiation and progression

Perry M. Hogan, PhD

  • Cellular mechanisms of cardiac contractility
  • Electrophysiology of cardiac muscle

Randall Hudson, PhD

  • Melatonin receptors in circadian rhythm and neuronal firing

Michael J. Morales, PhD

  • Molecular biology of cardiac ion channels

Mark Parker, PhD

  • Acid and base (bicarbonate) transporters in the kidney and eye

Mikhail Pletnikov, MD, PhD

  • Neuron-glia interaction in the pathophysiology of cognitive impairment in neuropsychiatric disorders

Feng Qin, PhD

  • Molecular mechanisms of thermal transduction and pain
  • Ion channel structural functions
  • Fluorescence and cryo-EM imaging
  • Computer modeling

Randall Rasmusson, PhD

  • Cellular and molecular properties of cardiac arrhythmia’s and ion channels studied using voltage-clamp techniques and extensive computer modeling

Malcolm M. Slaughter, PhD

  • Retinal physiology and synaptic neuroscience

Brian Weil, PhD

  • Mechanisms of functional and structural cardiac remodeling in heart disease, as well as novel therapeutic approaches to prevent or reverse left ventricular dysfunction caused by myocardial injury

Zhen Yan, PhD

  • Synaptic and epigenetic mechanisms for neurodevelopmental, psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases
  • Physiological and pathophysiological actions of neuromodulators on ion channels in CNS neurons