Gray Lab

I am really excited to Meaghan joining the lab, my first postdoc!  She comes from Gabriela Popescu’s laboratory at the University at Buffalo, where she published a series of elegant studies that contributed significantly to our understanding of the structure/function relationships within the NMDA receptor through detailed single-channel analysis. Meaghan’s work described how bupivacaine, a local anesthetic that is primarily a sodium channel blocker, also acts as an antagonist at NMDA receptors and, thus, may have some benefit in preventing the central sensitization that causes chronic pain. In addition, she published work describing how closure of the agonist binding clefts on the NMDA receptor relate to agonist efficacy. Her publications can be found here.  Welcome Meaghan!

I’m so pleased that Jon decided to join my lab! My first graduate student, oh boy.  But seriously, Jon really impressed me during his rotation.  Eager to do experiments, Jon very eagerly got an old rig up and operational after only a few weeks of troubleshooting (the life of an electrophysiologist!).  And now, we’re off and running.

Welcome Jon Wong… sorry I don’t have a rig set up yet.  Thanks to Kim McAllister for allowing us the use one of her rigs so it can be a worthwhile rotation!!

Jon, a first year PhD student in the Neuroscience Graduate Group, had the unique opportunity for a student at a liberal arts college (Calvin College) to gain experience with patch clamp electrophysiology. Using a mouse model of corpus collosum agenesis, he found that the Probst bundle, a collection of aberrant axons that forms in these mice, makes functional connections to the posterior cortex. I’m excited to have him rotating in my lab!