Faculty by Research Area

Assistant Professor of Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 211
860-685-3197

Assistant Professor, Neuroscience & Behavior
860-685-3197

gaaron@wesleyan.edu

BA Oberlin College
PHD University of Pennsylvania

Personal Web Site:
http://gaaron.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Professor of Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 316
860-685-3489

Professor, Neuroscience & Behavior
860-685-3489

dbodznick@wesleyan.edu

BS University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
PHD University of Washington
MAA Wesleyan University

Personal Web Site:
http://dbodznick.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Scholarly Keywords:
Neuroethology, sensory information processing in vertebrate brains.

Associate Professor of Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 306
860-685-3461

Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Behavior
860-685-3461

sdevoto@wesleyan.edu

BA Haverford College
PHD Rockefeller University
DU

Personal Web Site:
http://sdevoto.web.wesleyan.edu/

Scholarly Keywords:
Muscle Fiber Type Development, Myotome Growth, and Somite Patterning.

Lab URL:
http://sdevoto.web.wesleyan.edu/

Professor of Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 409
860-685-3494

Chair, Neuroscience & Behavior Program
Shanklin Laboratory 409
860-685-3494

Professor, Neuroscience & Behavior
860-685-3494

jrkirn@wesleyan.edu

BA University of Denver
MA Bucknell University
PHD Cornell University

Personal Web Site:
http://jrkirn.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Research Interests:
I'm interested in how the brain acquires and stores information. I am pursuing these interests by studying song learning and song maintenance in birds, who constantly replace neurons throughout life. Two basic questions of interest are (1) is neuronal replacement related to song learning, and (2) How can the brain preserve information when neurons are constantly being replaced?

Scholarly Keywords:
Animal Behavior, Learning and Memory, Neuroethology, Neuroendocrinology

Grants:
NIH RO1, 2004-09 (P.I.: Kirn; $880,000 Direct Costs) "Avian vocal experience and adult neuron replacement".

Lab URL:
http://jrkirn.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Publications:
http://jrkirn.faculty.wesleyan.edu/selected-publications/

Professor of Biology
Hall-Atwater Laboratories 254
860-685-3232

Professor, Neuroscience & Behavior
860-685-3232

jnaegele@wesleyan.edu

BA Mount Holyoke College
PHD Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Personal Web Site:
http://naegelelab.research.wesleyan.edu/

Research Interests:
Loss of GABAergic interneurons contributes to the development of spontaneous seizures in severe human temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and in rodent models of TLE. Our research focuses on neural stem cell-based repair of the nervous system damage. Currently we are investigating GABAergic interneuron replacement in temporal lobe epilepsy using two different stem cell sources - fetal telencephalon and mouse and human embryonic stem cells. We have discovered that GABAergic progenitor grafts suppress spontaneous seizures for extended periods of time in the rodent brain. We have also demonstrated long-term survival, migration, and integration of ES cell-derived neurons in the adult hippocampus. The questions we are now pursuing are: 1) what are the cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating long-term survival and integration of transplanted cells in the adult brain? 2) what are the major differences in neural repair capacity of GABAergic neural progenitors derived from ES cells vs. fetal brain? Our research in collaboration with Gloster Aaron and Laura Grabel utilizes mouse and human embryonic stem cell derived progenitors for transplantation into mouse models of epilepsy and a broad range of vitro and in vivo methodologies.

Scholarly Keywords:
Mouse and human embryonic stem cells; fetal telencephalon neural stem cells, mouse models of epilepsy, electroencephalography (EEG recordings), immunohistochemistry, neurodegeneration, apoptosis

Academic Associations:
International Society for Stem Cell Research Society for Neuroscience AAAS American Epilepsy Society Women in Neuroscience Connecticut SFN chapter American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair

Grants:
Connecticut Stem Cell Initiative

Lab URL:
http://naegelelab.research.wesleyan.edu/

Publications:
http://naegelelab.research.wesleyan.edu/publications/

Epilepsy Currents

Frontiers in Neurogenesis

Brain and Development

Epilepsy Foundation of Connecicut