COURSES TAUGHT

BMS 208 - Human Anatomy
BMS 291 - Human Physiology Laboratory
BMS 250 - Anatomy and Physiology Laboratory

EDUCATION

Ph.D. Illinois State University (Neuroscience), 2011
B.S. Bradley University (Biology and Philosophy), 2003

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research interests center around a functional, real-time measure of neurotransmission. Neurons send and receive information through chemical means, transducing electrical signals into chemical signals. These transmissions occur on a very fast time- scale, in the millisecond time frame.

One of the best methods for monitoring neurotransmission in real time is called Fast-Scan Cyclic Voltammetry (FSCV). Fast-scan because it is happening fast: every 100 ms; cyclic because it happens repeatedly; and voltammetry because it deals with voltage changes. In brief, when a carbon surface reaches a certain voltage, and a neurotransmitter is next to it, the neurotransmitter will oxidize (like metal rusting). You can measure this reaction and use it to look at changes in neurotransmitter concentration.

The goals of my lab: 1) continue to improve neurotransmitter recording techniques. 2) To better understand the effects a various chemicals on dopamine signaling in the mouse brain, and thereby the human brain. We utilize mouse brain slices to allow for dopamine signal monitoring and drug application. 3) In collaboration with Merritt Delano-Taylor, characterize dopamine release from stem-cell-derived neurons.