Course Director, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience
Course Director, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience
Biography
I study the molecular and cellular physiology of sensory organs. Specifically, my research focuses on signal transduction and signal processing in taste buds. I use functional imaging with voltage-, pH-, and ion-sensitive fluorescent dyes, confocal microscopy, and electrophysiology.Our laboratory studies sensory neurobiology, and specifically the transmission of orosensations (e.g., taste, pain, temperature, irritating chemicals) from peripheral sensory structures into the brain.Patients undergoing chemotherapy experience a number of adverse side effects that profoundly change their quality of life. Among these are changes in taste and other orosensory disturbances, including metallic taste and hypersensitivity to cold foods and drink. We are studying the peripheral sensory neurons that transmit these signals into the brain in hopes of understanding how the disturbances arise and finding methods to reduce or eliminate these adverse side effects.
Education & Training
Education
1973: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Other, Neurobiology
1970: University of London, London, United Kingdom
PhD, Physiology
1967: Harvard College
BS, Biology
Post Graduate Training
1973: Harvard Medical School, Neurobiology w/ SW Kuffler
Post-Doctoral Fellowship
Honors & Awards
No result found
Teaching Interests
I actively participate in basic science introductory medical education and advanced medical topics such as nociception. Because our medical curriculum is now focused on small group teaching, I prefer a more interactive approach in my teaching, with active discussions and intensive question/answer sessions.
Research Interests
Ongoing projects include mapping and decoding taste-evoked signals from the sensory end organs (tastebuds) into the hindbrain. We also conduct tests of orofacial pain and taste dysfunction that result from off target side effects of cancer chemotherapy such as oxaliplatin- and cisplatin-induced oral cold allodynia and dysgeusia. The premise is that taste changes and orofacial pain after oxaliplatin or cisplatin chemotherapy may be due, in part, to pathological changes in the sensory ganglia that innervate the tongue, head, and neck--the geniculate and trigeminal ganglia. Because these ganglia lie outside the blood-brain barrier, pathological changes there may be treatable by drugs and agents injected into the blood stream, raising hopes for developing effective means to alleviate the painful side effects of chemotherapy.
Publications
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