Skip to content
Seeking Patient Care?

Faculty Profiles

Miller School of Medicine Faculty

Coleen Atkins

Coleen M. Atkins, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery
Publications
Biography: Dr. Atkins is an Associate Professor at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Atkins is also a Research Health Scientist at the Bruce Carter Miami VA Healthcare System. Dr. Atkins received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Minnesota, her doctorate in...
View Full Profile >
Diego Caicedo Vierkant

Alejandro Caicedo-Vierkant, Ph.D.

Professor , Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism

Biography: During his training years in Germany and France Dr. Caicedo focused his research on the neuroanatomy of the auditory system at the brainstem level and inner ear. His main contribution to the field was to map the connections between the inferior colliculus and lower nuclei of the auditory brainstem using anterograde axonal tracing. During his postdoctoral training with...
View Full Profile >
Robert Keane

Robert W. Keane, Ph.D.

Professor, Departments of Physiology & Biophysics and Neurological Surgery
Clinical Profile | Publications
Biography: Brief Biosketch: Dr. Keane is Professor of Physiology and Biophysics, Neurological Surgery and Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. Over the last 30 years his research has focused on understanding the innate immune response in the central nervous system. Dr. Keane discovered that inflammasomes are expressed...
View Full Profile >
Kenneth Muller

Kenneth Muller, Ph.D.

Professor
Publications
Biography: Dr. Muller graduated from the University of Chicago with an SB in Physics and from the Massachussetts Institute of Technology with a PhD in Biology/Physiology in 1971, where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow working with Joel E. Brown. He was a National Institutes of Health Fellow at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Neurobiology with John G. Nicholls,...
View Full Profile >
Stephen D. Roper, Ph.D.

Stephen D. Roper, Ph.D.

Professor, Physiology & Biophysics
Publications
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...
View Full Profile >
Richard L. Rotundo, Ph.D.

Richard L. Rotundo, Ph.D.

Professor of Cell Biology
Publications
Biography: Dr. Rotundo is a cell biologist whose research focuses on acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an important component of the neuromuscular junction and all cholinergic synapses in the central and peripheral nervous systems.

Our laboratory focuses on the regulation of neurotransmission via the enzyme, acetyl cholinesterase. We study: 1) The contributions of protein...
View Full Profile >
Pedro J Salas, M.D., Ph.D.

Pedro J Salas, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Cell Biology
Publications
Biography: Dr. Salas obtained his medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires (1976) and completed a PhD. (1981, same institution) in Biophysics focusing in paracellular (tight junction) diffusion of cations in epithelia. He continued his post-doctoral training at State University of New York (Downstate Medical Ctr) and Cornell University Medical College in New York city....
View Full Profile >
Juan Pablo de Rivero-Vaccari

Juan Pablo de Rivero Vaccari, Ph.D.

Research Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery and The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis
Publications
Biography: Dr. de Rivero Vaccari is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery & The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, and a Distinguished Faculty Member of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and Aging at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He has studied the innate immune response for over 15 years and was the first to show the...
View Full Profile >

University of Miami Faculty

Kevin Collins, PhD

Kevin Collins, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Biology

Email: kmc117@miami.edu

Biography: Our goal is to understand how neural circuits control behavior. We are taking advantage of the optical clarity and powerful genetics of the C. elegans egg-laying behavior circuit to literally watch and manipulate the activity of specific cells. We hope to unravel the molecular mechanisms that modulate neurotransmission during specific animal behavior states.

Julia Dallman PhD

Julia Dallman, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Biology

Email: j.dallman@miami.edu

Biography: My lab generates zebrafish models of inherited human neurological disorders to understand how mutations impact neural circuit development and behavior. By comparing multiple forms of a single disorder, we elucidate shared mechanisms by which different mutations affect behavior. Our long-term goal is to leverage these models to inform treatment strategies for individuals with inherited disorders of the nervous system.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing, gastrointestinal distress, brainstem, enteroendocrine cells, microbiome, innate immunity


Patrick Ganzer, Ph.D.

Patrick Ganzer, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Biology

Email: pxg487@miami.edu

Research focus: The Ganzer lab focuses on discovering and developing neurotechnology therapies for treating disease and dysfunction. We employ a number of techniques including neurostimulation, machine learning, neurological injury models, brain mapping, transsynaptic tracing, and systems physiology. The work of Dr. Ganzer’s neurotechnology teams has been published in several high impact journals (e.g., Cell, Nature Communications, Science Advances, and eLife), highlighted in the popular press (e.g., US News, Wired Magazine, Reuters, and MATLAB), and translated to multiple clinical trials to help people with disease and dysfunction.
George Inana, MD, PhD

George Inana, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor, Ophthalmology

Email: ginana@med.miami.edu

Biography: Our lab investigates the mechanisms of retinal diseases that lead to blindness through the identification of causative genes, construction and use of animal models to elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms by which specific gene mutations lead to retinal degeneration, and therapeutic manipulation of the animal models for the ultimate goal of developing effective therapies.

Fabrice Manns, PhD

Fabrice Manns, Ph.D.

Professor, Biomedical Engineering and Ophthalmology

Email: fmanns@med.miami.edu

Biography: Dr. Manns research activities include the development of optical laser and optical instrumentation for the treatment and diagnosis of eye diseases, and studies on the optics of the eye to help optimize vision correction procedures.