Our department organized a special luncheon on November 3rd for Neuroscience undergraduate
and PhD students, as well as faculty members. The primary objective of this event
was to promote collaboration and strengthen the partnership between the Neuroscience
PhD and BS programs.
(left) Danielle Mor Outstanding Young Basic Science Distinguished Faculty, (middle)
David Kozlowski Class of 2025 Educator of the Year and (right) Xin-Yun Lu Outstanding
Faculty
2022
Amber Durand
CONGRATULATIONS Amber Durand
Winner of the 2022 Mark Ritz Research Scholarship
selected by:
Pierre Fauchard Academy an International Honor Dental Organization Georgia Section
Qin Wang, MD, PhD
We are happy to announce that Dr. Qin Wang will be joining our department in January 2022 as Professor and a GRA Eminent Scholar.
She will direct the Alzheimer’s Therapeutics Discovery Program. Dr. Wang is a highly
accomplished neuroscientist, whose innovative research has the potential to slow down
brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease. She received her medical degree from Beijing
Medical University and her PhD from the University of Iowa, and then completed postdoctoral
training at Vanderbilt University. She was recruited to the University of Alabama
at Birmingham in 2005, where she rose to the rank of Professor in 2016. She is a
well-funded researcher with an excellent record in developing new collaborative projects
with colleagues inside and outside the university. Currently she is the principal
investigator on five NIH research grants.
2021
Nagendran Muthusamy, PhD
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Nagendran Muthusamy joined the Department of Neuroscience & Regenerative Medicine as a Senior Research
Scientist in Dr. Xin-Yun Lu’s lab in August, 2021.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Muthusamy to the AU-MCG-DNRM Family! (Sept. 2021)
Congratulations! The Office for Faculty Success has selected Dr. Lynnette McCluskey as an “MCG Woman Who Inspires" for their 2021 Women In Medicine Month Campaign. "We
are grateful for your many, enthusiastic contributions to the research, service, and
educational missions of MCG. You are an important role model and mentor to junior
investigators and graduate students at our institution". (Sept. 2021)
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Eric Vitriol joined our department as an Associate Professor on February 1, 2021. He comes to
us from the University of Florida and his research focuses on the regulation of actin
during cell motility, neural development, and in neurodegenerative diseases such as
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Dr. Vitriol will bring his expertise in single-molecule
super-resolution imaging to our department. He has received multiple awards, including
an NINDS K99/R00 grant, an ALS Association grant and an NIGMS five-year renewable
Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (R35). He will work together with the ALS
Center to develop a translational research program. Dr. Vitriol completed his postdoctoral
training at Emory University and his PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology at the
University of North Carolina. (Feb. 2021)
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Danielle Mor joined our department as an Assistant Professor on October 1, 2020. Her research
as a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University investigated the mechanisms of neurodegeneration
in Parkinson's disease. Her work aims to identify the causes and modifiers of prion-like
α-synuclein transmission in animal models of Parkinson's disease. Dr. Danielle Mor
received her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania and her BA in
Neuroscience from Wesleyan University.
We are please to announce that Dr. Hedong Li has joined our department as an Associate Professor on October 1, 2020. Dr. Li comes
to us from Penn State University. He received his PhD in Molecular Neuroscience from
Wayne State University and completed postdoctoral training at Rutgers University.
Dr. Li studies the neuronal reprogramming process and neurodevelopment. He combines
the in vivo reprogramming technology with microRNA biology to reprogram glial cells
into functional neurons for brain repair.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Chung Sub Kim and Dr. Ferenc (Frank) Deak to DNRM. Dr. Kim joined our faculty as an Assistant Professor in May 2020, and Dr. Deak joined
as an Associate Professor on June 1, 2020.
Dr. Kim received his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Texas at Austin and
continued his postdoctoral studies in Dr. Daniel Johnston’s group. His research is
focused on understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying psychiatric
disorders. He investigates the regulation and function of HCN channels in the hippocampus
and their roles in depression and the mechanism of action of antidepressants. He
brings technically advanced skills including direct recordings of ion channels with
cell-attached patches from soma and dendrites.
Dr. Deak received his MD and PhD from Semmelweis University of Medicine, Budapest,
Hungary. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Tom Südhof at UT Southwestern
and received his training in neurodegenerative disorders at the Mayo Clinic before
joining the Reynolds Aging Research Center of the University of Oklahoma as an assistant
professor. Dr. Deak has focused his research on synaptic neurotransmitter release
and plasticity in the aging brain. More specifically, he investigates molecular regulation
of neurotransmission and it's defects in dementia. Dr. Deak is the recipient of a
recent 5-year NIH R01 grant investigating the role of VAMP1 in synaptic transmission
and Alzheimer's dementia.
