Anthony-Samuel LaMantia, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, GW Medical Center
Director, GW Institute for Neuroscience
Dr. LaMantia's laboratory studies genetic and molecular mechanisms of early forebrain development. We focus on signaling and transcriptional regulation of forebrain stem cell identity and the role of forebrain developmental regulatory genes in behavioral and psychiatric diseases including schizophrenia and autism.

Ross Hall 661
2300 Eye Street NW
Office phone: (202) 994-8462
Lab phone: (202) 994-8465
Email: phmasl@gwumc.edu

Ken Brown, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, GWU
Studies from my lab and others suggest that monoamine neurotransmitters including serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine regulate several basic developmental processes common to all animal embryos including early embryo cell cleavage, movement, shape changes, and differentiation. We use sea urchin and chicken embryos to examine the role of serotonin and other catecholamines in early embryogenesis and heart development. We are also examining potential effects of silver nanoparticles on mouse embryos following exposure of pregnant females. These particles - so small that they can easily penetrate cells-are present in 30% of all nanotechnology-based consumer products from socks to cell phones to baby pacifiers. Currently, we are evaluating silver nanoparticle accumulation in the placenta as well as their effects on embryo anatomy and gene expression.

Lisner Hall 332
2023 G. St. N.W.
Office phone: (202) 994-6193
Email: kmb@gwu.edu

Vincent A. Chiappinelli, Ph.D.
The Ralph E. Loewy Professor and Chair
Department of Pharmacology & Physiology, GW Medical Center
Dr. Chiappinelli's laboratory studies visual information processing in the thalamus through patch clamp electrophysiology in brain slices in parallel with morphological studies of the relationships between thalamic neurons. The major focus is on the role of nicotinic receptors and cholinergic afferents in synaptic transmission through the visual thalamus.

Ross Hall 630
2300 Eye Street NW
Office phone: (202) 994-3541
Email: phmvac@gwumc.edu
Lab Webpage

Anne Chiaramello, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Biology, GW Medical Center
Dr. Chiaramello's laboratory studies molecular mechanisms of mitochondrial biogenesis and bioenergetics regulating neuronal differentiation and survival.



Ross Hall 425
2300 Eye Street NW
Office phone: (202) 994-2173
Lab phone: (202) 994-8465
Email: anaaec@gwumc.edu
Lab Webpage

Matt Colonnese, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology, GW Medical Center
Dr. Colonnese's lab asks how do we develop the ability to actively explore and perceive our sensory environment? Such perception does not result simply from brain activity driven by the external world, but by its collision with activity generated internally. The lab is determining what processes drive the developmental initiation of this internal activity at the cellular, network and metabolic levels using a host of electrophysiological and imaging techniques in vivo in rats and mice.

Ross Hall 639
2300 Eye Street NW
Office phone: (202) 994-2926
Email: colonnese@gwu.edu

Joshua Corbin, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator, Center for Neuroscience Research, Children's National Medical Center & Associate Professor, Departments of Pediatrics, Pharmacology and Physiology, GW Medical Center
Dr. Corbin's laboratory studies the genetic and cellular processes that govern normal development of the amygdala, as well as the underlying defects in these processes that occur during developmental disorders, with a specific focus on autism and autism spectrum disorders. To accomplish these goals, we use a combination of modern tools of mouse genetics in animal models of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Children's National Medical Center
Center for Neuroscience Research
Voice: (202) 476-6281
Email: jcorbin@cnmcresearch.org
Lab Webpage

William D. Gaillard, M.D.
Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, Associate Director, Center for Neuroscience Research, Children's National Medical Center and GW Medical Center
Dr. Gaillard's laboratory uses advanced structural and functional imaging to examine the effects of neurological disease and developmental disorders, primarily epilepsy, on brain structure and function. Our work has direct clinical implications in planning epilepsy surgery and we explore the neural underpinnings of brain plasticity.

Children's National Medical Center 6th floor
Office phone: (202) 476-2120
Email: wgaillar@cnmc.org

Vittorio Gallo, Ph.D.
Wolf-Pack Chair and Director, Center for Neuroscience Research, Children's National Medical Center, Professor of Pediatrics, Pharmacology and Physiology, GW Medical Center
Dr. Gallo's laboratory studies neural progenitor development as well as the response to injury in the immature and adult brain. The lab focuses on questions of oligodendrocyte development and myelination, as well as Neuron-glia communication in the CNS during development and after injury.

Children's National Medical Center 6th floor
Office phone: (202) 476-4996
Lab phone: (202) 476-5922
Fax: (202) 476-4988
Email: vgallo@cnmcresearch.org

Andrea Gropman, M.D.
Principal Investigator, Center for Neuroscience Research, Children's National Medical Center; Associate Professor, Departments of Neurology and Pediatrics, GW Medical Center
Dr. Gropman's laboratory uses advanced neuroimaging in human subjects and animal models such as fMRI, diffusion tensor imaging, and 1H magnetic resonance imaging (MRS) to study biomarkers of neurological injury in inborn errors of metabolism including urea cycle disorders, mitochondrial disorders and phenylketonuria (PKU). Dr. Gropman is also the director of the neurogenetics program at CNMC where patients with rare disorders and undiagnosed conditions are seen.

Department phone: (202) 476-2120
Office phone: (202) 476-3511
Fax: (202) 476-5226
Email: agropman@cnmc.org

Valerie Hu, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Biochemistry, GW Medical Center
Dr. Hu's laboratory takes a systems biology approach to studying autism spectrum disorders by integrating genomic, epigenetic, and genetic analyses of cells and brain tissues from autistic and nonautistic subjects. The overall goals are to develop a better understanding of the molecular pathology of autism which will aid in the development of better therapeutics as well as to identify molecular biomarkers for diagnostic screening.

Ross Hall 526
2300 Eye Street NW
Office phone: (202) 994-8431
Email: bcmvwh@gwumc.edu

Molly Huntsman, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator, Center for Neuroscience Research, Children's National Medical Center; Assistant Professor, Departments of Pediatrics, Pharmacology and Physiology, GW Medical Center
Dr. Huntsman's laboratory studies functional roles for specialized inhibitory circuits in synaptic plasticity, sensory processing and the plasticity of disease. The lab uses a combined genetic and physiological approach to understand biophysical consequences of sensory deprivation and in disease states such as epilepsy and Fragile X syndrome, and to compare sensory map plasticity in normal and disease states.

Children's National Medical Center 6th floor
Office phone: (202) 476-4324
Email: mhuntsman@cnmcresearch.org
Lab Webpage

Norman Lee, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, GW Medical Center
Dr. Lee's laboratory focuses on the application of molecular, genomics, and computational approaches to elucidate genetic networks and pathways underlying behavioral traits, such as i.v. self-administration and tolerance of additive substances including nicotine and other drugs of abuse in inbred mouse strains. Methodologies have been developed to validate causal links between candidate genes and behavior by exploiting lentivirus-containing shRNAs delivered in vivo to specific brain regions of inbred strains.

Ross Hall 603
2300 Eye Street NW
Office phone: (202) 994-8855
Email: phmnhl@gwumc.edu

Judy Liu, M.D., Ph.D.
Principal Investigator, Center for Neuroscience Research, Children's National Medical Center; Assistant Professor, Departments of Pediatrics, Pharmacology and Physiology, GW Medical Center
Dr. Liu's laboratory works on the cellular mechanisms of neuronal migration, axon and dendrite formation. We model human neural developmental disorders caused by mutations in genes encoding cytoskeletal proteins.

Children's National Medical Center
111 Michigan Ave. NW, 6th floor M7644
Washington DC 20010-2970
Office phone: (202) 476-2383
Email: jliu@cnmcresearch.org
Lab Webpage

Thomas Maynard, Ph.D.
Associate Research Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, GW Medical Center, Director, GW Institute for Neuroscience Biomarkers Discovery Core
Dr. Maynard's work focuses on the role of cell-cell signaling during neural development, and how signaling is disrupted by genetic disorders that alter chromosomal dosage. He is currently examining mouse models of 22q11 deletion syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with psychiatric diseases, to identify how this genomic lesion alters development and function of cortical circuitry. Dr. Maynard is also the Director of the Biomarkers Discovery Core, a core facility that provides support for molecular and cell biological analysis of gene function in the developing and adult nervous system.

Ross Hall 634A
2300 Eye Street NW
Office phone: (202) 994-3540
Email: phmtmm@gwumc.edu

David Mendelowitz, Ph.D.
Professor and Vice-Chairman, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, GW Medical Center
Dr. Mendelowitz's laboratory studies the central nervous system control of heart rate in health and disease. Changes in the neural control of cardiorespiratory function initiates and/or maintains cardiorespiratory diseases such as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Our research focuses on establishing neurochemical links between neurons essential for respiration and neurons that control heart rate, and how risk factors, such as nicotine exposure through cigarette smoking, and intermittent hypoxia, increases the risk of SIDS in infants and arrhythmias in adults with OSA.

Ross Hall 654
2300 Eye Street NW
Washington DC 20010-2970
Office phone: (202) 994-3466
Fax: (202) 994-2870
Email: dmendel@gwu.edu
Lab Webpage

Sally Moody, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Biology, GW Medical Center
Dr. Moody's laboratory studies two aspects of neural developmental gene regulatory networks: (1) molecular mechanisms by which FoxD5, a forkhead/winged helix transcription factor, regulates other neural genes to control the transition from an immature to a pre-differentiation state in the neural plate; and (2) novel co-factors and down-stream targets of the Six1 transcription factor, a key regulatory gene that specifies placode-derived sensory structures of the vertebrate head. This information is being used to discover new genes involved in neural tube and craniofacial birth defects.

Ross Hall 207
2300 Eye Street NW
Office phone: (202) 994-2878
Email: samoody@gwu.edu
Lab Webpage

Damien O'Halloran, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, GW University
The O'Halloran lab is interested in understanding the cellular mechanisms that shape behavioral plasticity, we are also interested in how these mechanisms develop. We use the model system C.elegans to probe this line of inquiry. The O'Halloran lab is also interested in using C. elegans as a model to further our understanding of human neurological and psychiatric diseases.

Ross Hall 636
2300 Eye Street NW
Lab Webpage

David Perry, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, GW Medical Center
Dr. Perry's laboratory studies the neurobiology of nicotine addiction and nicotinic receptors, using receptor binding, immunoprecipitation, autoradiography, transmitter release and genomics. Recent studies have focused on the unique effects of nicotine on the developing brain, including exposure during pregnancy and during adolescence.

Ross Hall 618A
2300 Eye Street NW
Office phone: (202) 994-3544
Email: phmdcp@gwumc.edu
Lab Webpage

Kenna Peusner, Ph.D.
Professor of Anatomy and Regenerative Biology, GW Medical Center
Dr. Peussner's laboratory focuses on understanding the fundamental mechanism operating during recovery of function in vestibular nuclei neurons after peripheral vestibular lesions using the hatchling chicken model. The laboratory also focuses on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanism operating during central vestibular system development, and the possible link between reexpression of developmental mechanisms after lesions to the adults system.

Ross Hall 209
2300 Eye Street NW
Office phone: (202) 994-3489
Email: anakdp@gwumc.edu

John Philbeck, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, GWU
Dr. Philbeck's laboratory studies the psychological and neural underpinnings of human visual space perception, navigation, and spatial cognition. He uses behavioral and neuropsychological methods to address these issues in a variety of populations, including neurosurgical patients, patients with Alzheimer's Disease, and healthy younger and older adults.

2125 G. Street, NW, Room 310
Office phone: (202) 994-6313
Email: philbeck@gwu.edu
Lab Webpage

Anastas Popratiloff, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Research Professor, Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Biology, Director for Microscopy and Image Analysis, GW Medical Center
Dr. Popratiloff's work focuses on neuronal and synaptic organization in normal brain structures and during adaptive plasticity after injury. In conjunction with his role as director of the Center for Microscopy and Image Analysis at GWUMC, he utilizes microscopic imaging and image analysis in his work on synaptic organization and neuronal plasticity.

Ross Hall 215
2300 Eye Street NW
Office phone: (202) 994-2164
Email: anaasp@gwumc.edu
Lab Webpage
Center Webpage

Lawrence A. Rothblat, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychology, GWU
Dr. Rothblat's laboratory is using genetically engineered mice to investigate the basis of cognitive impairment in neurodegenerative (Alzheimer's and Parkinson's) and neuropsychiatric (autism and schizophrenia) disorders.



2125 G Street, NW
Office phone: (202) 994-6809
Fax: (202) 994-1602
Email: lar@gwu.edu

Geralyn Schulz, Ph.D.
Professor and Associate Dean for Research, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, GWU
Dr. Schulz's laboratory focuses on kinematic analyses of speech production, speech motor learning, as well as kinematic analyses of articulatory movement pre and post therapy for Adult Neuromotor Disorders.


801 22nd St NW, 212 Phillips Hall
2115 G St NW, Monroe Hall of Government
Office phone: (202) 994-3548
Email: schulz@gwu.edu
Lab Webpage

Chet Sherwood, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, GWU
Dr. Sherwood's laboratory is is dedicated to research on brain evolution in primates and other mammals. We investigate phylogenetic diversity in neural structure, with a particular focus on the cerebral cortex, including its behavioral correlates and genetic substrates.



2110 G Street, NW
Office phone: (202) 994-6346
Lab phone: (202) 994-5923
Email: sherwood@gwu.edu
Lab Webpage

Donald Shields, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, GW Medical Center
Dr. Shields, in collaboration with National Institutes of Health investigators, is studying the electrophysiological network interactions in human patients who undergo deep brain stimulation for movement and psychiatric disorders. These studies are designed to better understand cortical/subcortical network interactions, and thereby improve the effectiveness of, high frequency stimulation in neurosurgical patients.

2150 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 7-420
Washington, DC 20037
Office phone: (202) 741-2750

Sarah Shomstein, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, GWU
Dr. Shomstein's laboratory focuses on elucidating the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying attentional selection. Research in the laboratory employs multiple methodologies including behavioral paradigms, eye tracking, and functional neuroimaging in normal individuals as well as in individual with attentional deficits following brain damage.

2125 G. Street, NW, Room 304
Office phone: (202) 994-5957
Email: shom@gwu.edu
Lab Webpage

Linda Werling, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, GW Medical Center Director, GW Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Associate Dean for Graduate Education, GW Medical Center
Dr. Werling is Director of the Institute for Biomedical Sciences (IBS) and Associate Dean for Graduate Education. In this capacity, she leads the Ph.D. program for Biomedical Science students and serves as their Academic Advisor in the first year of Ph.D. training. Her research interests focus on regulation of neurotransmitter transporters and sigma opioid receptor function in brain.

Ross Hall 619A
2300 Eye Street NW
Office phone: (202) 994-2918
Fax: (202) 994-1602
Email: phmllw@gwumc.edu
IBS Webpage

Irene Zohn, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Center for Neuroscience Research, Children's National Medical Center and Departments of Pediatrics, Pharmacology and Physiology, GW Medical Center
Dr. Zhon's laboratory is interested in understanding the pathways that regulate morphogenesis of the neural tube. As a model system we utilize several novel mutant mouse lines with disruptions in neural tube closure that have provided novel insight into the pathways that regulate neurulation.

Children's National Medical Center
Room Number M7645, 6th Floor
Office phone: (202) 476-2106
Fax: (202) 476-4988
Email: izohn@cnmcresearch.org
Lab Webpage