neurobio.drexelmed.eduDepartment of Neurobiology & Anatomy - Drexel University College of Medicine

Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy - Drexel University College of Medicine Skip to main content For a better experience, click the icon above to turn off Compatibility Mode, which is only for viewing older websites. 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About Overview Message from the Dean Mission & Vision Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Departments, Centers, Institutes and Offices Campuses Affiliated Hospitals Libraries History Employment Opportunities Directions & Maps Contact Information Home About Departments, Centers, Institutes and Offices Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy The Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at Drexel University College of Medicine provides an outstanding academic environment for pursuing multidisciplinary research and training in neuroscience. The department has recently expanded by recruiting 9 new faculty members for a total of 37 faculty member at all levels including 18 funded research laboratories. The department has about 50 research grants with over $8 million in annual grants, as well as several endowments. Recent grant awards include the spinal cord program project, major NIH and DoD grants, and numerous Foundation grants. As of 2017, the department is ranked #24 in NIH funding [PDF] among all medical schools in the U.S (source: brimr.org ). The department offers postdoctoral training in individual laboratories and research groups and graduate student training through the Neuroscience program for outstanding individuals preparing for a research career in the biomedical sciences. The department promotes a highly interactive and collaborative environment that encourages training and research and lab meetings outside the confines of one laboratory, thus providing flexibility and diversity in the training process. In addition, the department is responsible for the teaching of several major courses for medical students including Gross Anatomy, Medical Neuroscience, and Microanatomy with laboratory components. Based on the experience and resources offered in these classes, our educators developed online remediation courses that, in the last seven years, have served medical students from more than 40 medical schools and offered a collaborative Artistic Anatomy course for art students, which is one of its kind in the U.S. and was featured on the Emmy-nominated WHYY-TV's (PBS) Friday Arts program in a story called "The Gross Lab." Current faculty research interests include the following areas: Spinal cord research with emphasis on regeneration, neuroprotection and recovery of function after spinal cord injury. Cellular and developmental neurobiology with emphasis on neuronal cytoskeleton, guidance molecules, the neuromuscular junction, neuronal migration and growth cones. System neurobiology with emphasis on dopaminergic and cholinergic systems, addiction and psychiatric disorders. Joint neuroengineering program with the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems at Drexel University . Bone biology research with an emphasis on bone quality, structure and adaptation during growth, aging and disease. Confocal views, provided by Dr. Son, of neuromuscular junctions in the adult mouse muscle. Motor axons (yellow) elaborate fine terminal branches in precise apposition to acetylcholine receptors in the muscle fiber (blue). Motor axons and nerve terminals are capped by Schwann cells (red). Training can be obtained in all aspects of advanced microscopy and imaging, tissue culture, transplantation techniques, gene therapy and sequencing, behavioral neurobiology, kinematics, intracellular recording, patch clamping, computer modeling of neurobiological processes and robotics. The department has well-equipped shared facilities for confocal microscopy, electron microscopy, image acquisition and processing, small animal surgery, behavioral analysis, biochemistry and molecular biology. Research training is also supplemented by a seminar series featuring faculty, postdoctoral fellows and outside speakers. Journal clubs and discussions of research findings are scheduled regularly and often shared among individual laboratories. The Program Project Grant on Recovery of Function After Spinal Cord Injury awarded by the NIH involves seven individual faculty with additional support coming from national and international foundations including the Christopher Reeve Research Foundation and EPVA. This program comprises neurobiological research ranging from molecular neurobiology of spinal cord regeneration to functional studies of recovery of motor behavior after spinal cord injury, offering an excellent multidisciplinary training opportunity in the field of spinal cord injury. Meet Our Faculty Kimberly Dougherty, PhD Dr. Kimberly Dougherty is an associate professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and has been here for five years studying rhythm generating circuitry in the spinal cord. Dr. Dougherty is an engaging young scientist who recently reached the exciting milestone of graduating her first doctoral student. Read more. Eileen Collyer, PhD Dr. Eileen Collyer has had a colorful research journey prior to joining the department here at Drexel. After completing her PhD studies in Chile, she did her first postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Veronica Tom. Read more. Meet Our Students & Alumni Victoria Spruance, PhD Dr. Spruance received her PhD from the department in 2017. She did her dissertation work in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Lane, where she worked on transplantation of neural progenitor cells to improve respiratory function after cervical spinal cord injury. Dr. Spruance is currently a presidential management fellow at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, NIH). Read more. Liang Oscar Qiang MD, PhD "Firstly, I think a graduate student should make their priority their research. Your goal should be to make the best out of your research, to impress yourself and to be proud of your work. Secondly, make friends in grad school. Socialize with people, talk to people and by doing so you might get ideas about your own project. You are surrounded by scientists in grad school and there is always an opportunity to get new ideas that can lead to collaborations." Read more. News & Announcements Margo Randelman to Give Discovery Day Presentation Margo Randelman, a neuroscience graduate student, was one of five platform presenters to be highlighted in a news article about the College of Medicine's annual day of research, Discovery Day. Read the article. Department Hosts FBI School of Operational Medicine Training The Federal Bureau of Investigations School of Operational Medicine (FBI-SOM) holds quarterly medical refresher trainin...