A group of neuroscience faculty at UW.

Neuroscience Faculty

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Kara G. Pratt

Director of Neuroscience Program and Associate Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology

I am interested in the functional development of neural circuits and how sensory input regulates this process. It has been well established that external sensory stimuli is necessary for proper circuit development and refinement, but the intracellular mechanism(s) underlying this type of plasticity are not understood.

Read more: Visit website  |  Email: kpratt4@uwyo.edu

Brenda Alexander

Brenda Alexander

Assistant Professor, Reproductive Biology

Research is focused on reproductive physiology with a focus on neuroendocrine mechanisms controlling reproduction and reproductive behavior in domestic livestock. A special emphasis of research explores the neuroendocrine control of ram reproductive behavior...

Read more: Visit website  |  Email: balex@uwyo.edu

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Nicole L Bedford

Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology & Physiology

The Bedford Lab works at the intersection of evolutionary biology and systems neuroscience to understand the genetic and neural basis of innate behavior. As a model neural circuit, we use voluntary micturition (i.e., the decision of when and where to urinate).

Read more: Visit website  |  Email: nbedford@uwyo.edu

Jared S. Bushman

Jared S. Bushman

 Assistant Professor, School of Pharmacy

Dr. Bushman’s primary research interests are the roles of astrocytes and other glia in the central nervous system and regeneration of the central and peripheral nervous systems following traumatic injury or disease.

Read more: Visit website  |  Email: jbushman@uwyo.edu

Jonathan Fox

Jonathan Fox

 Professor, Department of Veterinary Science

We study molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration particularly in the context of Huntington’s disease (HD). We work primarily with genetic mouse models of HD. We use a variety of approaches to elucidate disease mechanisms including anatomic studies.

Read more: Visit Website  |  Email: Jfox7@uwyo.edu 

 

 

Zoltan M. Fuzessery (Emeritus)

Zoltan M. Fuzessery (Emeritus)

Professor Emeritus, Department of Zoology and Physiology

Neuroethological approach to information processing in the vertebrate auditory system, using behavioral, psychophysical, neurophysiological and neuroanatomical approaches to unravel the neural substrates for sound localization, echolocation and recognition of communication signals.

Read more: Visit website  |  Email: zmf@uwyo.edu

Yun Li

Yun Li

Assistant Professor of Zoology and Physiology

I am interested in understanding the biological basis of behavior. I believe that the pattern of neural activity contains some version of information, since all sensory signals are converted into neural activity, and the contents of our thoughts, emotions and knowledge are all carried by neural activity.

Read more: Visit website  |  Email: yli30@uwyo.edu

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Meredith Minear

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology

My research interests are focused around spatial cognition and individual differences in executive function, memory and working memory. One focus of my lab examines the plasticity of cognitive processes i.e. how our environment and experiences can affect cognitive performance. For example, how can targeted training using both physical and virtual media (such as augmented reality), change how we represent and process information? In my lab, we measure both electrophysiological data (EEG & ERPs) as well as behavioral performance in immersive virtual reality environments.

Read more: Visit website  |  Email: mminear2@uwyo.edu

Sreejayan Nair

Sreejayan Nair

Professor, School of Pharmacy

My laboratory is interested in studying insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1)-mediated signal transduction in neuronal cells. Our long-range goal is to identify the role of insulin and IGF1 in neurodegenerative disorders.

 

Read more: Visit website  |  Email: sreejay@uwyo.edu

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Adam Nelson

Assistant Professor, Sensory Biology Center

The goal of our group is to address, from a genetic and neural perspective, how the brain integrates sensory and physiological information to control behavior in a group setting.  We use many different approaches, from behavioral ecology to neuroscience, to understand how the activity of neural circuits is linked to behavioral patterns that underlie organization of the group. Techniques such as long-term automated behavioral analysis, genetics, electrophysiology, circuit characterization, and manipulation of neural activity advance us toward a better understanding of how mice are able to develop stable social hierarchies and networks.

Read More: Visit Website Email: anelson74@uwyo.edu

Jonathan F. Prather

Jonathan F. Prather

Associate Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology

The goal of my lab is to understand the neural mechanisms that enable us to communicate. This process requires that we perform and perceive complex signals, and we are only beginning to understand how those signals are processed in the central nervous system.

Read more: Visit website  |  Email: jprathe2@uwyo.edu

Brandon Roberts  Brandon Roberts

Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology


Our lab focuses on understanding interactions between early life overnutrition, daily rhythms, and how these relationships impact neural function and behavior at the circuit level. We are particularly interested in how early life environment impacts brain-body hormone signaling in adulthood. Our overarching goal is to leverage these mechanistic findings to develop timed meal plans and/or the optimal time of day for pharmaceutical interventions.



Read more: Visit website  |  Email: brandon.roberts@uwyo.edu

 

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Grace Shearrer

Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

The maternal to adolescent eating, nutrition, and development (M2AENAD) lab is working to find bio-behavioral risk factors for overeating, excess weight gain, and insulin resistance. We study populations at risk of excess weight gain while rapidly developing (pregnant women, toddlers, and adolescents). The M2AENAD lab uses a variety of techniques such as eye tracking, probabilistic reward learning, and eating in the absence of hunger paradigms in these developing human populations. We also specialize in secondary data analysis of functional MRI scans employing a variety of cutting-edge analytical methods including graph theoretical analysis and inter-subject functional correlation analysis to examine the etiology underlying hedonic overeating.

Read more: Visit website  |  Email: gshearre@uwyo.edu

 shukla photo Ram Shukla

Asst Professor, Department of Zoology & Physiology

Email: rshukla@uwyo.edu

My lab is deeply interested in unraveling the cellular and molecular commonalities and disparities among psychiatric disorders. A recent area of intrigue for us is the role of ribosomes. We are actively exploring the hypothesis that these molecular machines, owing to their mobility within neurons, contribute to the variable clinical presentation of mood and other psychiatric disorders.

Qian-Quan Sun
 

Qian-Quan Sun

Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology

One of the amazing characters of our brain is its ability to learn and to adapt. This capacity of learning is enormous when we are young. In addition, injury to the immature brain results in much more elaborate reorganization than that observed with comparable injuries in adulthood.

Read more: Visit website  |  Email: neuron@uwyo.edu

William D. “Trey’” Todd

William D. “Trey’” Todd

Assistant Professor of Zoology and Physiology

My laboratory seeks to understand how the mammalian circadian system, and its input and output pathways, influences the daily timing of particular behaviors from sleep-wake and locomotor activity rhythms to more complex behaviors such as aggression. My research also focuses on how such circuitry is involved in neurobehavioral pathologies associated with circadian dysfunction and behavioral aggression, such as sundowning syndrome in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Read more: Visit website  |  Email: wtodd3@uwyo.edu

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Rae L. Van Sandt

Associate Research Scientist, Department of Veterinary Sciences

The primary focus of my research is on plasticity of spinal cord circuitry and the immune response to CNS injury. I am also interested in investigating the cause of wobbly hedgehog syndrome, an idiopathic central demyelinating disease of hedgehogs.


Read more: Visit website  |  Email: rvansand@uwyo.edu

 
Contact Us

Neuroscience Graduate Program

Debbie Swierczek, Program Coordinator

School of Graduate Education
Knight Hall 247

Phone: 307-766-4128

Email: neuroscience@uwyo.edu

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