FSU Biology - Faculty Research Interests - Neuroscience and Neurobiology

Neuroscience and Neurobiology

The research interests of the Neuroscience faculty in the Department of Biological Science include biophysics & electrophysiology of excitable cells, neurotransmitter & neurohormone action, development & plasticity, circadian rhythms, feeding & regulatory processes, and the genetic & molecular bases of behavior. Students applying to the Department of Biology may choose to work with any Department of Biological Science faculty. Many of the Department of Biological Science faculty listed above are also members of the separately funded, University-Wide Graduate Program in Neuroscience, an interdepartmental research and graduate training program at Florida State University. The Program in Neuroscience includes faculty from the departments of Biological Science, Psychology, and Nutrition, Food and Exercise Science, Mathematics and the College of Medicine. Its objective is to promote interdiscipl inary basic research into neural processes with a long tradition of training in sensory systems. The program administers a distinct curriculum leading to the Neuroscience Ph.D. degree.

Graduate Program Overview and Admissions Information

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Neuroscience Graduate Program Overview and Admissions Information

Faculty

  • Debra A. Fadool
    Structure and Function of Ion Channel Proteins; Signal Transduction and Neuromodulation by Phosphorylation; Impact of Obesity and Diabetes mellitus on Olfactory and Sensory Processes

  • James M. Fadool
    Using zebrafish as an model system, we investigate genetic & cellular mechanisms regulating photoreceptor development, patterning, retinal degeneration and regeneration.

  • Jian Feng
    Epigenetic regulation of neuropsychiatric disorders

  • Thomas A. Houpt
    Molecular neurobiology of learning and memory in food intake; conditioned taste aversion.

  • Kimberly A. Hughes
    Why are organisms are so genetically diverse? This is the broad question on which my lab focuses. In particular, we want to understand how variation is maintained in traits that are under strong natural selection: life history traits, sexually selected traits, and other traits closely tied to fitness. We use a variety of approaches to investigate these issues ranging from field experiments to genomic analyses.

  • Emily Lemmon
    Research in our lab focuses on the study of speciation, from the earliest stages where populations start to diverge to the final stages where reproductive isolation evolves. We are also involved in accelerating resolution of the Tree of Life, through development of next-generation sequencing approaches for phylogenomics and population genomics.

  • Lisa C. Lyons
    We are interested in the molecular and cellular mechanisms through which sleep and the circadian clock affect neural plasticity from drug tolerance to long-term memory. We use Drosophila melanogaster and mice for our research with sleep deprivation.

  • Douglas Storace
    Sensory processing, function and organization of neural circuits, imaging brain activity.

  • Roberto Vincis
    Gustation; Neuronal dynamics of taste sensation and taste-related decisions.