Teaching

NEUR 3044: Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience (2019 – present)

The course reinforces and expands the student’s knowledge of cellular and molecular concepts relative to the principles of neuroscience and their application to understanding nervous system disorders. There are several learning objectives. Having successfully completed this course, the student will be able to 1) describe how biological functions at the chemical and cellular levels are related to cellular functions, such as cell specialization and signaling; 2) explain the structure and function of neurobiological chemicals, neurons, and other cells that are critical to the nervous system; 3) discuss aspects of molecules and cells that distinguish healthy from atypical/disordered neurochemical and neurobiological functions; 4) explain the methods neurobiologists and neurochemists use to study links between molecules, cells, networks, and “higher level” cognitive functions; 5) discuss practical applications and treatments arising from cellular and molecular neuroscience that are used for supporting or enhancing healthy neurological functioning. 6) apply current cell and molecular research techniques to answer neuroscience-relevant questions; 7) communicate scientific findings based on lab results in written or oral formats.

◆ ◆ ◆

NEUR 4314: GENETICS IN NEUROSCIENCE (2025 – present)

This course will help students gain an advanced understanding of genetics in the broader field of neuroscience. Having completed this course, students will be able to 1) analyze the contributions of classical and modern genetics and epigenetics in the field of neuroscience, 2) relate model organisms to neurogenetic disorders, 3) assess the utility of cutting-edge techniques in neurogenetic research including genetic screens, next generation sequencing, genome-wide association (GWAS), genome editing and genetically encoded tools, 4) evaluate the role of genetics and epigenetics in neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders, and 5) assess the outlook of personalized medicine on neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders using genetic and epigenetic tools.

◆ ◆ ◆

NEUR 4044: Neuroscience Senior Seminar (2017 – 2024)

Sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch are the major senses we have and they allow us to perceive and comprehend the world. But how do we sense at the molecular and cellular level? And how did the pioneer scientists discover the molecular and cellular sensors and their signaling pathways? In this course, we will explore the scientific literature and attempt to form tentative answers to these questions. This course will include five topics: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and thermosensation. For each topic, we will discuss the discoveries of the cellular and molecular sensors and their critical signaling pathways. We will also touch on various sensory disorders and their treatments. Underlined below are three main points of the course: 1) We will focus on the process of research. Reading the initial studies about sensory cells and receptors, we will focus on how these early scientists proposed their hypotheses, how they chose appropriate animal models, how they designed their experiments and how they analyzed their results. 2) We will understand different techniques and discuss how to use these techniques to solve specific problems. We will discuss studies using different animal model systems (including vertebrate and invertebrate) to understand the pros and cons of each model system. 3) We will focus on the identification of sensory neurons and molecular receptors. 
At the end of the course, students will be expected to be able to design experiments to identify the molecular and cellular sensory receptors.