University of Rochester Medical Center

Faculty Directory

* Only these tenured or tenure-track NSC faculty are permitted to serve as NSC Ph.D. mentors
   and/or voting members of NSC thesis committees.

Faculty Appointment(s) Focus
Richard N. Aslin, Ph.D.*
Director:
William R. Kenan Professor:
 Perceptual development in infants
Daphne Bavelier, Ph.D.*
Associate Director:
Associate Professor:
 The effect of altered experience early in life on the functional organization of the adult brain
Loisa Bennetto, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Neurocognitive functioning in autism.
Jean M. Bidlack, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Pharmacology of brain and lymphocytic opioid receptors
Martha L. Blair, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Neural and neuroendocrine control of cardiovascular function
Brian J. Blyth, M.D.
Assistant Professor:
  • CNDD
Research Assistant Professor:
William J. Bowers, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Development of HSV amplicon-based gene therapy for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases
Linda M. Callahan, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor:
 Response of effected and neighboring neurons to cytoskeletal disruption in late-onset neuro-degenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer's Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and Parkinson's Disease.
Laurel H. Carney, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Auditory Neuroscience; neurophysiological, behavioral, and computational studies of hearing; signal processing for hearing aids.
Deborah Cory-Slechta, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Understanding the contribution of environmental chemical exposures to human diseases and disorders of the nervous system in order to evaluate human health risks and to determine effective strategies for treatment.
Kevin A. Davis, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Auditory neurophysiology, neural circuitry and information processing, and computational neuroscience.
Greg DeAngelis, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Visual neuroscience; multi-sensory integration; neural coding; linking neurons to perception
Stephen Dewhurst, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Neuropathogenesis of AIDS
Ian Dickerson, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Molecular mechanisms of neuropeptide signal transduction
Robert T. Dirksen, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Calcium channel structure and function
Robert W. Doty, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Recognition of faces, a function of the right cerebral hemisphere in macaques
Charles J. Duffy, M.D., Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Functioning of cerebral neocortex, using neurophysiologic and psychophysical methods to examine mechanisms of spatial orientation
Robert H. Dworkin, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Neuropathic pain: epidemiology, pathophysiology, treatment, and prevention
Edward G. Freedman, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Neural control of coordinated movements
Robert S. Freeman, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Molecular biology of programmed cell death
Robert D. Frisina, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Neural processing of complex sounds in young and aged
Julie L. Fudge, M.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Anatomy and neurochemistry of brain regions associated with symptoms in major psychiatric illnesses
Lin Gan, Ph.D.*
Assistant Professor:
Associate Professor:
 Development and degenerative diseases of sensory neurons, gene regulation
Greg T. Gdowski, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Vestibular neurophysiology: sensory neural control underlying the coordination of postural movements
Martha Johnson Gdowski, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Sensorimotor processing in the basal ganglia
Harris A. Gelbard, M.D., Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Molecular mechanisms and potential pharmacological and gene therapeutic interventions for neurologic disease associated with HIV-1 infection of the central nervous system
Roman J. Giger, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Molecular mechanisms of repulsive axon guidance in the developing and regenerating mammalian nervous system
Steven A. Goldman, M.D., Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Stem Cell Research
Robert C. Griggs, M.D.*
Chair:
Professor:
 Experimental Therapeutics of Muscle Disease
Robert A. Gross, M.D., Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Molecular pharmacology of neuronal signal transduction and ion channel activity
Suzanne N. Haber, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Basal ganglia and degenerative diseases
Dana Helmreich, Ph.D.*
Assistant Professor:
Krystel R. Huxlin, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Neural mechanisms of visual recovery in the adult; advanced physiological optics in the awake-behaving cat
James R. Ison, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Analysis of sensory and perceptual function
Gail V. W. Johnson Voll, Ph.D*
Professor:
 Mitochondrial dysfunction and the molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration; tau pathology in Alzheimer’s disease; the role of mitochondria in the pathogenesis of Huntington’s disease
Shirley A. Joseph, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Neurochemical reorganization in the epileptic brain
Paul J. Kammermeier, Ph.D.*
Assistant Professor:
 G protein coupled receptor signaling and modulation of ion channels in neurons
Carol K. Kellogg, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 GABA A receptor and neural development
David C. Knill, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Perception of 3D surface structure and depth; Bayesian models of visual perception; Early visual representations of image structure; Visual control of motor behavior
David R. Kornack, Ph.D.*
Assistant Professor:
 The biology of neural progenitor cells in developing and adult mammalian brain
Rebekah Loy, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor:
 Neurotrophic factors in development, aging, and plasticity
Shao-Ming Patrick Lu, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor:
 Synaptic transmission in the central nervous system
Anne E. Luebke, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Role of cochlear outer hair cells in hearing and hearing loss, at both the molecular and systems levels
Kelley S. Madden, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor:
 Psychoneuroimmunology
Sanjay Maggirwar, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Role of NF-Kappa B in neuronal survival and function
Ania K. Majewska, Ph.D.*
Assistant Professor:
 Imaging synaptic structure and function in the visual system.
Walter Makous, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Psychophysical dissection of vision
Margot Mayer-Pröschel, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Biological and molecular mechanisms governing precursor cell division, differentiation, and survival in the brain
William H. Merigan, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Organization of visual cortex in humans and non-human primates
Jonathan Mink, M.D., Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Physiology of movement, function of the basal ganglia, pathophysiology of movement disorders, and development of motor control
Jan A. Moynihan, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Psychoneuroimmunology
Maiken Nedergaard, M.D., DMSc*
Professor:
 Neurosurgery
Shawn D. Newlands, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A.*
Professor:
 Vestibular anatomy and physiology, recovery from vestibular injury, vestibular control of head unrestrained gaze.
Elissa L. Newport, Ph.D.*
Chair:
George Eastman Professor:
 Acquisition of language; and the relationship between language acquisition and language structure
Mark Noble, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Stem cell biology, regeneration in the central nervous system, redox modulation of precursor cell function, developmental disorders, brain tumor biology, and adverse effects of chemotherapy of neural stem cell populations
Ernest J. Nordeen, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Hormonal control of neural and behavioral development
Kathy W. Nordeen, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Neurobiology of learning and memory
M. Kerry O'Banion, M.D., Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Normal and pathological roles of cyclooxygenase in glia and neurons; Alzheimer's Disease
Mitsunori Ogihara, Ph.D.*
Chair:
Professor:
John A. Olschowka, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Neural-immune interactions
William E. O'Neill, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Processing of complex acoustic signals in the central auditory system; echolocation; aging effects on central auditory system
Lisa A. Opanashuk, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Toxicant exposure and brain development
Gary D. Paige, M.D., Ph.D.*
Chair:
Kilian J. and Caroline F. Schmitt Professor:
Professor:
 Visual, vestibular, and adaptive control of spatial orientation and balance
David B. Parfitt, Ph.D.*
Assistant Professor:
 Early life stress and brain development
Tatiana Pasternak, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Cortical mechanisms of visual perception and memory
David A. Pearce, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Yeast and mouse models for the study of human disease
Michael Perlis, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Sleep in psychiatric disorders and neurocognitive phenomena in insomnia, the mechanisms of action of sedative hypnotics, and the development of alternative treatments for insomnia
Diane T. Piekut, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Hypothalamus: neuropeptides, neuroplasticity, seizures
Raphael Pinaud, Ph.D.*
Assistant Professor:
 Molecular and cellular mechanisms of experience-dependent plasticity and sensory learning.
David J. Pinto, Ph.D.*
Assistant Professor:
 Cells and synapses, neurobiology of disease, sensory systems and perception, theoretical and computational
Douglas Portman, Ph.D.*
Assistant Professor:
 Genetics and genomics of nervous system development in the Nematode C. elegans
Alexandre Pouget, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Theories of coding, representation, and computation in the brain
James M. Powers, M.D.*
Professor:
 Peroxisomal Disorders
David Rempe, M.D., Ph.D.*
Assistant Professor:
 Understanding the adaptive and pathological responses of the brain to periods of hypoxia and ischemia as observed during stroke
Patricia M. Rodier, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Understanding how injuries to the developing brain occur and how they are later expressed in structure and function
Lizabeth M. Romanski, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Organization and functions of the primate prefrontal cortex
Marc H. Schieber, M.D., Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Neural Control of Individuated Finger Movements
Nina F. Schor, M.D., Ph.D.*
Chair:
Professor:
 Targeted therapy for neural crest tumors; neurodegenerative disease.
Scott H. Seidman, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Vestibular systems, motor learning, physiological models, multi-sensory integration
Shey-Shing Sheu, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Molecular mechanisms of intracellular Ca2+ signaling
Peter Shrager, Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Neuron-neuroglia interactions
Fraser J. Sim, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor:
Research Assistant Professor:
 Molecular control of cell fate and homeostasis of resident progenitor cells in the adult human brain
Suzanne Y. Stevens, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Neural immune interactions
Duje Tadin, Ph.D.*
Assistant Professor:
 neural mechanisms of visual perception in normal and special populations
Arnold William Tank, Ph.D.*
Chair:
Paul Stark Professor:
 Regulation of tyrosine hydroxylase gene expression in the nervous system
Charles A. Thornton, M.D.*
Professor:
 Neurogenetic disorders
Kim Tieu, Ph.D.*
Assistant Professor:
 Mechanisms of neurodegeneration and neuroprotection
Joseph P. Walton, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor:
 Neural coding of complex sounds in the aged brain
Michael Weliky, Ph.D.*
Associate Professor:
 Visual cortical development and function
David R. Williams, Ph.D.*
Director:
Professor:
 Limits of human vision
Ronald W. Wood, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor:
 Behavioral Pharmacology and Toxicology; Substance Abuse; Inhalation Toxicology; Medications for Urologic Disorders (urge incontinence, interstitial cystitis, pain)
Troy J. Zarcone, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor:
 Behavioral Pharmacology and Toxicology; Substance Abuse; Behavioral Measurement (Sensory, Motor & Cognitive Function)
Berislav Zlokovic, M.D., Ph.D.*
Professor:
 Brain vascular mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease and stroke