We study the mechanisms that permit rapid and sustained synaptic transmission in the mouse brain, predominantly using the calyx of Held as a model synapse. This giant glutamatergic synapse in the auditory brainstem has a number of experimental advantages that permit us to trace the fundamental mechanisms that underlie chemical neurotransmission. We apply a variety of genetic and viral transduction techniques to disrupt presynaptic function at the calyx through transgenic mouse models, and expression in neuronal populations using adeno-associated virus (AAV). We use whole cell electrophysiology to record activity from the presynaptic or postsynaptic compartments (and sometimes both!) We complement these recordings with the use of use organic and genetically-encoded probes for functional imaging of essential messengers (Ca2+ ATP, and others).
Amanda Yonan
I am a first generation college student. I began at Modesto Junior College and earned my B.S. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at University of California, San Diego. I then earned my Ph.D. in Human Genetics at Columbia University in the City of New York. Specifically, I studied the genetic causes of Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder. As teaching faculty I do not have a lab at UNR, and no longer conduct research.
Chandrabali Bhattacharya
Dr. Bhattacharya received her Undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Chemistry from Presidency College Kolkata and Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. She completed her Ph.D. in Bioorganic Chemistry under the guidance of Dr. Sidney M. Hecht from Arizona State University, and her thesis work was mainly focused on the study of the role of the disaccharide moiety in tumor targeting of the anti-tumor agent antibiotic bleomycin (BLM). To further augment her foundation in glycoscience, Dr. Bhattacharya briefly worked with Dr. Linda Hsieh-Wilson at Caltech on understanding the role of the sulfation pattern of glycosaminoglycans in different cellular processes. Then she joined the laboratory of Dr. Daniel Anderson and Dr. Robert Langer at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, to complete her postdoctoral training as Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Fellow. Her research interfaces the disciplines of bioengineering, drug delivery, and personalized medicine. At UNLV, She brings a new research area to the Chemistry Department – utilizing carbohydrates in targeting and diagnostics for solving critical high-impact problems associated with diseased biology.
Steve Frese
Dr. Frese’s research is centered on the human gut microbiome and its inhabitants. Our work at the University of Nevada, Reno examines how diet, food science, and biotechnology can be leveraged to meaningfully improve human health and nutrition.
Chad Cross
Dr. Cross is trained as a multidisciplinary scientist. He received is PhD in Ecological Sciences (focus in Quantitative Ecology and Statistics) from Old Dominion University in Norfolk Virginia. He additionally holds several master’s degrees: Computational & Applied Mathematics/Statistics (Old Dominion University), Medical Entomology & Nematology (University of Florida), and Counseling (University of Nevada, Las Vegas). His undergraduate training was at Purdue University, where he earned two bachelor’s degrees, one in biological sciences and the other in wildlife science. Dr. Cross has several active areas of research. These include: (1) Public Health: Investigations in population health related to chronic and infectious diseases, with special emphasis on quantitative methodology and use of large databases; (2) Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Applications of statistics and epidemiological principles to problems in the health sciences – for example clinical trials, multivariate models, and population sampling strategies; (3) Medical Entomology & Parasitology: Applied research and field work in arthropod-borne and parasitic diseases, including population-based estimation of disease burden and the intersection of medical entomology and forensic science; (4) Quantitative Ecology: Applications of statistics to problems in the environmental and ecological sciences – for example Bayesian models for estimating avian fatality around wind turbines and mark-recapture sampling; and (5) Psychometrics: Applications of statistics to problems in the psychological sciences – for example randomized controlled trials for interventions and pattern recognition for finding clusters of patients with shared pathology.
Aude Picard
Dr. Aude Picard’s research investigates microbe-mineral interactions in the context of microbial physiology, biogeochemistry and astrobiology. The focus is on interactions between sulfate-reducing microorganisms (SRM), which are ubiquitous in anoxic sedimentary environments, and iron sulfide minerals. Microscopy and spectroscopy are used to 1) understand the properties and transformation pathways of iron sulfide minerals in anoxic environments and at the oxic-anoxic interface; 2) evaluate if the composition, morphology and mineralogy of biominerals is unique enough to serve as biosignatures for the search of life on other planets; and 3) assess the role of minerals on microbial activity and survival.
Shengjie Zhai
Dr. Shengjie (Patrick) Zhai is an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His research expertise is centered around five key areas: 1) Novel nanomaterials and patterning techniques for bioelectronics, optoelectronics, and photovoltaics, 2) Plasmonic-enhanced biosensors for single-molecule biomedical analysis, 3) Micro/Nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), 4) Physiological organ biomimetic systems built on microfluidic chips and multi-external driven, scaffold-free engineered human tissue models, and 5) Artificial intelligence-assisted health assessment.
His research contributions include the development of micro-engineered multichannel organ-on-a-chip devices, AI-reinforced biomimetic biosensors, and novel biomaterials for low-noise, comfortable personal health wearable monitor bioelectronics (PHWMB). Dr. Zhai has authored over 20 peer-reviewed articles published in respected journals such as Advanced Optical Materials, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, and IEEE COMPSAC, and holds nine patents in his field.
Among his accolades, Dr. Zhai is a recipient of two National Science Foundation Fund Awards (2021, 2019), the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development Fund Award (2020), the NASA-Colgate Funding Award (2019), and a Department of Energy Research Award (2022). He has also served as an editor for the Journal of Renewable Materials and as a contributing reviewer for the Royal Society of Chemistry Advances. His academic services extend to numerous other academic journals, and he has participated as a panelist for NSF, DOE, and NASA grant review processes.
Jingchun Chen
I am currently an associate professor at the Nevada Institute of Personalized Medicine (NIPM), UNLV, specializing in genetic studies of complex disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and psychiatric disorders. With a strong background in genetics, genomics, and molecular biology, I have accumulated extensive knowledge and experience in genetics and bioinformatics over the past 16 years. My research has focused on AD in recent years, resulting in AD-related grants (n=4), publications (n=3) (two as a corresponding author) (e.g., Citation #1), and presentations (n=8) at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC). I am a member of various AD-related groups and have built connections with a variety of NIA data resources.
Monika Gulia-Nuss
The long-term interest of my research program is to understand the biology of disease vectors to identify novel strategies for vector control and pathogen transmission. My lab focuses on two arthropod vectors of human diseases: mosquitoes and ticks. Our research spans multiple disciplines, including ecology, biochemistry and physiology, genetics, genomics, and computational biology, to investigate questions related to arthropod biology. We employ techniques that encompass molecular, cellular, and organismal levels of studies. Since setting up my lab at UNR in 2016, the most significant research contributions of my program have been 1) pioneering an embryo injection protocol for ticks, 2) the first successful use of CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing in ticks, 3) producing the first chromosome-level genome assembly for a tick species, and 4) adapting and optimizing a RADseq protocol (Rapture) for genome-wide markers to understand population genetic structure of mosquitoes and ticks. In addition, we have recently initiated a project for the identification of biomarkers for early diagnostics of Lyme disease.
M. Rashed Khan
Khan Lab@UNR aims to study, design, and develop soft materials, unconventional processes, and reconfigurable micro/nanodevices that can be harnessed and optimized further for advanced biochemical, biomedical, and physicochemical applications. The lab is also keen to establish a multidisciplinary smart-manufacturing research group, including researchers from various backgrounds. Through short and long-term active collaboration, Khan Lab@UNR would like to address fundamental challenges associated with soft micro-device fabrication, 3D/4D (bio)printing, and patterning, advanced hybrid sensor manufacturing, biomedical device development – which are still unnoticed and under-explored, and need further investigation.
Additionally, our group also focuses on computational neuroscience and neurobioengineering. Under this research direction, we study human brain, brain functions, brain structure so that the established knowledge can be broadly applicable to general biomecical science and knowledge of the brain and brain-diseases.