Gary Dunbar, Ph.D.
Dr. Dunbar’s recent research is focused on testing the efficacy of stem cell transplants and pharmacological treatments for neuropathological and behavioral deficits in animal models of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Dr. Dunbar’s research has been supported by awards from both private and public agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
>>expanded profile Richard Backs, Ph.D.
Dr. Backs defines his research focus as the psychophysiology of attention in human performance. It emphasizes the applied aspects of attention theory, and his recent studies have examined autonomic (electrocardiographic, impedance cardiographic, and pulmonary) and central (EEG and event-related potential) measures concurrently during focused and divided attention tasks in the laboratory and in the driving simulator. Dr. Backs has adopted a cognitive/energetic perspective to account for how cognition is affected by emotion and environmental and task stressors. He also investigates aging affects on the psychophysiology of attention, especially during driving.
>>expanded profile Justin Oh-Lee, Ph.D.
Dr. Justin D. Oh-Lee has over 10 years experience as a preclinical neuropharmacological research in Parkinson’s disease. His recent focus has been testing potential pharmacological treatments for motor dysfunction and response complications in animal models of Parkinson’s disease. He has published more than 30 original research articles and review articles in the areas of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. His NIH-supported L-Dopa research is currently funded by the NINDS.
>>expanded profile Mark Reilly, Ph.D.
Dr. Reilly’s research interests involve the experimental analysis of human and nonhuman behavior, operant/respondent conditioning, behavioral pharmacology and substance abuse. His research interests are eclectic but strive to elucidate basic principles of behavior. He has conducted research on schedules of reinforcement, behavioral variability, drug discrimination, drug tolerance and conditioned reinforcement. His current research focuses on three areas; the motivational properties of response effort or work, the contributions of classical and operant conditioning to impulsivity, and the environmental factors that establish alcohol as a reinforcer. Mathematical modeling of the behavior and its controlling variables is inherent to his research program.
>>expanded profile Michael Sandstrom, Ph.D.
Dr. Sandstrom uses techniques of single-unit neurophysiological recording and microdialysis to explore contributions of neurotransmitters to central nervous system function. He currently explores neurophysiological mechanisms underlying behavioral disruptions in a transgenic mouse model of Huntington’s disease. Dr. Sandstrom focuses research primarily on awake and freely moving animal models.
>>expanded profile Reid Skeel, Ph.D.
Dr. Skeel’s clinical and research interests focus on neurophysiological assessment. His clinical efforts center on providing functional application of neuropsychological assessement. His research interests are focused on examining variables that affect the ecological validity of neuropsychological tests. Examples of specific projects being conducted in his lab include examining the relationship between cognitive functioning and medication adherence, the impact of anxiety on neuropsychological performance, exploring how newer measures of executive functioning and decision making are related to behavior, cognitive effects of CABG surgery, and detection of sub-optimal effort during testing.
>>expanded profile Michelle Steinhilb, Ph.D.
Dr. Steinhilb’s graduate studies focused on the cellular trafficking and metabolism of the Alzheimer’s disease Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) using cell culture models. She continued to study neurodegenerative disease during her postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she used the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a genetic model system. Her research interests include molecular genetics, cellular and molecular biology, and neurodegeneration.
>>expanded profile Ksenia Ustinova, Ph.D
Dr. Ustinova’s lab covers motor control and learning, rehabilitation of patients with neurological diseases including stroke, spinocerebellar ataxia, and Parkinson’s disease. The mechanisms of motor control and learning and their disruption in patients with different neurological diseases; the recovery and compensation of sensorimotor functions after neurological injury with the use of new rehabilitation techniques including virtual reality and biofeedback.
>>expanded profile