Students with a direct and focused interest in Neuroscience are recommended to apply to the UCSF Neuroscience Graduate Program. This Neuroscience graduate program provides a center for academic activities related to the exploration of brain function and disease. Note that the Neuroscience Graduate Program has a separate student admissions process. Students interested in Neuroscience have two choices for graduate study at UCSF. BMS offers Neurobiology as one of our eight thematic areas; students will be required to participate in BMS coursework and program activities and may choose to do thesis research in a participating BMS/Neuroscience lab. One of the remaining big questions in science, the nature of the human mind will explain where we have come from and where we are going both as a species and as individuals. In the past, study of the nervous system divided into two very disparate fields, one examining behavior as a function of experience (psychology), and the other interested in the physical basis for brain activity (neuroscience). It is now clear that these approaches must be integrated for any real understanding, and UCSF is one of the few institutions with the breadth and depth of investigators to make significant advances.

Neuroscience research at UCSF spans a wide range of topics from the membrane proteins that regulate cell excitability to neurological and psychiatric disease. Several groups focus on the biophysical mechanisms that regulate cell excitability, including the structure and function of ion channels, and the mechanisms of membrane transport. Although highly reductionist, the approach has important implications for the behavior of neural circuits and information processing. Other groups study synaptic transmission, from the molecular basis for transmitter release to signal transduction by the postsynaptic cell and the changes in synaptic strength that underlie neural plasticity. Active collaboration continues to enable major scientific breakthroughs by combining different experimental approaches, for example, molecular biology and synaptic physiology. Other highly interactive groups studying the specification of neuronal populations, the properties of stem cells, axon guidance, dendrite structure and synapse formation address the wiring of neural circuits in neural development. In addition, the Keck Center for Integrative Neuroscience provides a focus for neural systems where scientists pursue the computational basis for a wide range of behaviors from apparently simple but highly regulated reflexes to auditory processing in the cortex, the acquisition of song by birds (as a model for language), and the pain pathway. Again, collaboration between groups enables the progress at multiple levels necessary to understand the molecular and physiological basis for behavior.

Many investigators at UCSF also have a major interest in disease. The Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, founded by Nobel laureate Stanley Prusiner, includes groups interested in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and trinucleotide repeats as well as prions. Cynthia Kenyon has recently made major advance in our understanding of aging. In addition, a substantial number of investigators have a primary interest in drug addiction. The Wheeler and Gallo Centers for the Neurobiology of Addiction include groups using worms, flies and vertebrate models to explore the molecular and physiologic basis for drug sensitivity, tolerance and compulsive drug-seeking behavior. Further, other groups study the genetics of human populations to identify the molecular determinants for a wide range of disorders including epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and migraine. Several of the genes responsible for these disorders involve ion channels, attesting to the importance of the connection to basic building blocks of the nervous system.

In summary, the depth of the neuroscience program at multiple levels provides an extraordinary environment to understand brain function and disease.

Scott Baraban, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Neurobiology of Epilepsy

Allan Basbaum, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
The Neurological Basis of Pain and Its Control

Michael S. Beattie, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
CNS injury and repair

Hilary Beggs, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Cell-Matrix-Cytoskeletal Signaling: Mechanisms of Eye Development and Disease

Nigel Bunnett, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Tissue/Organ Biology & Endocrinology
Protease switches for inflammation and pain signals

Ben Cheyette, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Wnt Signaling in Development and Function of the Mammalian Brain

Fred Cohen, MD, DPhil
Primary Research Interest: Virology & Microbial Pathogenesis
Secondary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Protein Folding and Drug Design

David Copenhagen, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Synapses, Circuits and Development in Retina

Ivan Diamond, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Adenosine and the Neurobiology of Alcoholism

Marc Diamond, MD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Human Genetics
Molecular Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration in Polyglutamine Expansion Diseases

Robert Edwards, MD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Molecular Analysis of Neurotransmitter Release

Donna Ferriero, MD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Tissue/Organ Biology & Endocrinology
Injury Response in the Developing Nervous System

Steven Finkbeiner, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Molecular Mechanisms of Synaptic Plasticity and Neurodegeneration

Ying-Hui Fu, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Human Genetics
Secondary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Human genetics in neurodegenerative diseases

Fen-Biao Gao, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Genetic and Behavioral Analyses of Disease-related Alterations in Neuronal Morphology and Function

Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Neural Mechanisms of Attention and Memory

Jane Gitschier, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Human Genetics
Secondary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Genetic Defects in Heavy Metal Transport

Ulrike Heberlein , PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Molecular genetics of addiction-related behaviors in flies and mice

Eric Huang, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Molecular Mechanisms Controlling Sensory Neuron Development

Yadong Huang, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Strategies of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Lily Jan, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Potassium Channels

David Julius, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Molecular Biology of Neurotransmitter Receptors and Ion Channels

Anatol Kreitzer, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Synaptic plasticity and circuit function in the basal ganglia

Arnold Kriegstein, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Neural Stem Cells and Embryonic Cortical Development

Jennifer LaVail, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Virology & Microbial Pathogenesis
Axonal Transport Mechanisms of Herpers Simplex Virus in CNS Neurons

Stavros Lomvardas, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Identification and characterization of stochastic choices in the nervous system

Marta Margeta, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Molecular determinants of neuronal susceptibility to degeneration

Todd Margolis, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Virology & Microbial Pathogenesis
Secondary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Ocular Infection with the Herpes Virus

Steven McIntire, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Genetic Analysis of Synaptic Function in C. Elegans

Synthia Mellon, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Developmental Regulation, Molecular Biology and Novel Actions of Steroid/Neurosteroid Synthesis

Paul Muchowski, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Human Genetics
Molecular mechanisms that underlie neurodegenerative disorders

Lennart Mucke, MD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Tissue/Organ Biology & Endocrinology
Molecular Neurobiology of CNS Diseases

Linda Noble, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Neurobiology of CNS Injury

Robert Nussbaum, MD
Primary Research Interest: Human Genetics
Secondary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Human Genetic Analysis of Parkinson's Disease and Other Disorders

Samuel Pleasure, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Control of early hippocampal development

Louis Ptacek, MD
Primary Research Interest: Human Genetics
Secondary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Genetics and biology of human nervous system disorders

Louis Reichardt, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Extracellular Factors Affecting Neuron Development

Dorit Ron, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Signal transduction and neurobiology of addiction

David H. Rowitch, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Research Interest: Neurobiology
CNS Development and Disease

John Rubenstein, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Genetic Regulation of Regional Specification and Differentiation in the Forebrain

Eric Rulifson, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Developmental Genetics of the Drosophila Neuroendocrine System and Diabetes

Nirao Shah, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Human Genetics, Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Neural control of sexually dimorphic behaviors

David Sretavan, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Mechanisms of axon injury, disease, and novel methods of axon repair

Raymond Swanson, MD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Astrocyte-neuron Interactions in Nervous System Disease

Laurence Tecott, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Molecular Genetic Analysis of Serotonin Systems and Complex Behavioral Traits

Erik Ullian, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
The Role of Glia in the Formation and Function of Synaptic Circuits

Zena Vexler, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Vascular & Cardiac Biology, Immunology
Inflammatory mechanisms of injury and repair after adult and neonatal stroke

Susan Voglmaier, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Vesicle Trafficking and Neurotransmitter Release

Richard Weiner, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Neuroendocrine Control of Reproduction and Signaling Pathways for the Antiangiogenic Factor 16K PRL

Anthony Wynshaw-Boris, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Human Genetics
Secondary Research Interest: Developmental & Stem Cell Biology, Neurobiology
Pathogenesis of Human Neurogenetic Diseases

Allison Xu, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Tissue/Organ Biology & Endocrinology
Secondary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Hypothalamic regulation of energy balance, obesity and type 2 diabetes

Midori Yenari, MD
Primary Research Interest: Neurobiology
Secondary Research Interest: Vascular & Cardiac Biology, Immunology
Inflammatory mechanisms in cerebral ischemia

Scott Zamvil, MD, PhD
Primary Research Interest: Immunology
Secondary Research Interest: Neurobiology, Human Genetics
Novel Treatments for Multiple Sclerosis