The Neuroscience CMB Core was established to serve the neuroscience research community by providing the equipment and training to incorporate cell and molecular approaches into their research.  I meet with investigators and members of their laboratory to design experiments, and discuss the theoretical and practical aspects of specific molecular and cell biological techniques.  I supervise the two full time CORE technicians:  Thomm Buttolph and Edward Zelazny.  These technicians also provide training and assist in investigator-initiated research projects.

My general research interests are in gene structure, expression and regulation, with a focus on neural plasticity and developmental neurobiology. I utilize molecular biology techniques to explore factors which regulate neuron-specific genes.

My previous projects at the University of Vermont involved the identification and cloning of a novel myosin isoform, cloning and characterization of the rat smooth muscle myosin heavy chain and rat pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide promoters, cloning of chicken bmi, and analysis of neuropilin expression in rat smooth muscle. I plan to continue my work in neuropilins by investigating the factors responsible for tissue-specificity of neuropilin expression during development.

As director of the COBRE Neuroscience Molecular Biology Core Facility, I am involved in a wide variety of exciting neuroscience projects. My goal as director is to provide researchers with the most up to date techniques to assist them in attaining their research goals.