David Julius
The UCSF Academic Senate on Tuesday announced that David Julius, PhD, professor and vice chair of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology in the UCSF School of Medicine, has been selected to be the 49th Faculty Research Lecturer.
Each year, this distinction proudly acknowledges the outstanding scientific achievements of a member of the UCSF Academic Senate.
The campus community is invited to hear Julius talk about his research at the 49th Faculty Research Lecture, held during Founders Week, on Tuesday, April 25, at 3:30 p.m. in Cole Hall on the UCSF Parnassus campus. A reception will follow.
Julius probes the molecular basis of somatosensation - the process by which people experience touch and temperature. His lab studies how the nervous system detects pain-producing stimuli and how changes in these sensing mechanisms may contribute to chronic pain following tissue or nerve injury.
In one project, Julius and his colleagues identified a component of the mammalian pain-transmitting pathway by determining how capsaicin - the pungent main ingredient in some chili peppers - elicits the sensation of burning pain. They found that both capsaicin and noxious heat elicit the sensation of burning pain by activating the same receptor on sensory neurons.
In 2004, Julius was one of four faculty members elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
Julius received his PhD degree in biochemistry from UC Berkeley and earned his BS degree in life sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He joined the UCSF faculty in 1989.
Source: Lisa Cisneros
Links:
David Julius lab
