Program Faculty + Staff
Professor, Entomology
Research Interests: Neuro-endocrinology of development, reproduction, and metabolism in insects; evolution of peptide hormone structure and function
Abigail Butcher
NSURE Program Coordinator
Jarrod Call
Assistant Professor, Kinesiology (Exercise Science Programs)
Research Interests: Skeletal muscle physiology, mitochondrial physiology, regenerative medicine, muscle electrophysiology
Paige Carmichael
Professor, Pathology
Research Interests: Inherited diseases, general pathology, ophthalmic pathology, digestive pathology, integumentary pathology
Ikseon Choi
Professor, Career and Information Studies
Research Interests: Case-based e-learning and real-world problem solving in higher education
Julie Coffield
Associate Professor, Physiology and Pharmacology, Toxicology
Research Interests: Toxicology, neurotoxicology, cellular mechanisms of Botulinum neurotoxins
Adriana Copley
NSURE Program Assistant
Krzysztof Czaja
Associate Professor, Veterinary Biosciences & Diagnostic Imaging
Research Interests: Neurology, neurogenesis, taste alterations
Gaylen Edwards
Department Head, Physiology & Pharmacology; Georgia Athletic Association Professorship in Veterinary Medicine
Research Interests: Neural processing of abdominal sensory information. Control of ingestive behavior and autonomic function
Jonathan Eggenschwiler
Associate Professor, Genetics
Research Interests: Genetic analysis of mouse development; cell fate specification in the embryonic central nervous system; patterning of the body plan’s left-right axis
Nik Filipov
Professor, Physiology and Pharmacology
Research Interests: Neurotoxicology; neuroimmunology; communication of the nervous systems in health and disease; basal ganglia disorders
Janette Hill
Professor and Graduate Coodinator, Career and Information Studies
Research Interests: Student-centered open learning environments
Shelly Hooks
Associate Professor, Neuroscience; Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences
Research Interests: G-protein coupled receptors, molecular pharmacology, signal transduction, ovarian cancer, neural stem cells
Daichi Kamiyama
Assistant Professor, Cellular Biology; Neuroscience
Research Interests: Identifying principles of neural circuit assembly
Lohitash Karumbaiah
Assistant Professor, Animal & Dairy Science
Research Interests: Defects in carbohydrate biosynthesis and alterations in carbohydrate composition; development of new carbohydrate-based biomaterials for spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and neural interfacing applications
Peter Kner
Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Research Interests: Improving imaging at the nanoscale in biomedicine and engineering; optics and biophotonics
James Lauderdale
Associate Professor, Cellular Biology; Graduate Coordinator, Neuroscience
Research Interests: Cells and disease; cells in development
Jae-Kyung “Jamise” Lee
Assistant Professor, Physiology and Pharmacology
Research Interests: Neuroinflammation, microglia biology, regulator of G-protein signaling (RGS), nurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
Hongxiang Liu
Assistant Professor, Animal & Dairy Science
Research Interests: Using taste buds as a model for developmental biology and regenerative medicine studies; identification of progenitor/stem cells of taste buds in non-mammalian vertebrates
Emily Noble
Assistant Professor, Foods and Nutrition
Research Interests: Feeding behavior, physical activity, energy expenditure, mechanisms by which diet and exercise affect the brain and cognitive function
Rachel Roberts-Galbraith
Assistant Professor, Cellular Biology
Research Interests: Regeneration and development; understanding cellular/molecular mechanisms that underlie neural regeneration in planarians
Jesse Schank
Assistant Professor, Neuroscience; Physiology & Pharmacology
Research Interests: The role of stress and neuropeptides in drug seeking behavior using behavioral pharmacology,
neuroanatomy, and molecular neuroscience
Walter Schmidt
Professor, Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Research Interests: Molecular cell biology and biochemistry of proteases associated with isoprenylated protein maturation and amyloidogenic peptide degradation; cancer; Alzheimer’s disease.
John Wagner
Professor Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology; Toxicology
Research Interests: Neurophysiology of the hippocampus, cellular mechanisms of learning and memory, neuropharmacology of drugs of abuse and rodent models of addiction
Frank West
Associate Professor Neuroscience’ Regenerative Medicine
Research Interests: Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide. We explore the potential of neural stem cells and other regenerative therapies to recover lost and damaged brain tissue. We utilize a novel pig ischemic stroke model in conjunction with magnetic resonance imaging, cognitive, motor function testing and histology
Nadja Zeltner
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Cellular Biology
Research Interests: Effects of pathological stress on cells of the peripheral nervous system and the adrenal gland. In vitro disease modeling using human pluripotent stem cells
Qun Zhao
Associate Professor, Physics and Astronomy
Research Interests: Experimental, Computational MRI Physics; Magnetic resonance applications in medicine, access to the state-of-the-art MRI technology