Neuroscience Center Graduates
November 2024
Hannah Jarrell, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Xiaoching Li, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Molecular Alterations in the Morphology of Medium Spiny Neurons in Area X of the Zebra Finch During Song Learning
June 2024
Thomas Kyllo, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Jeffery Erickson, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Riluzole and Novel Aminothiazole Derivative SKA-378 are Potential Antiepileptogenic Compounds in the Kainic Acid Rat Model of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
December 2023
Madigan Reid, Ph.D.
Major Professors: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D. and Ludmila Belayev, M.D.
Dissertation: Lipid Mediated Neuroprotective Signaling in Experimental Ischemic Stroke
December 2023
David Odenheimer, M.D., Ph.D.
Major Professor: Jennifer Lentz, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Central Auditory Function following Antisense Oligonucleotide Therapy for the Treatment of Deafness in a Mouse Model of Usher Syndrome Type 1C
May 2023
Whitney G. Walkowski, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Hamilton Farris, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Variation in Retinal Sensitivity in Anurans: Behavioral Context
and Signal Specific Sensitivity
July 2021
Elizabeth Alexis, MS
Major Professor: Hamilton Farris, Ph.D.
Thesis: Inner Nuclear Layer Anatomy in Nocturnal vs. Diurnal Eyes
November 2020
Daniel A. Martinez, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Chunlai Wu, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Mask & Coracle: Molecular Controllers of Microtubule
Dynamics and Active Zone Stability
May 2020
Katelyn N. Robillard, Ph.D.
Major Professors: Jennifer Lentz, Ph.D. and Nicolas Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: Genetic Strategies to Treat Vision Loss in a Murine Model of Acadian Usher Syndrome
February 2020
Thang L. Pham, PhD
Major Professor: Haydee Bazan, Ph.D.
Dissertation: The Mechanistic Link Between Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor,
Docosahexaenoic Acid, and Corneal Nerve Regeneration
July 2019
Khanh Do, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: The Lipidome During Neurodegeneration:
Retinal Protection by Novel Mediators
May 2019
Vivian Jaber, M.D./Ph.D.
Major Professor: Walter J. Lukiw, BS, MS, PhD
Dissertation: Integrated miRNA-mRNA Analysis Reveals Altered miRNA-mRNA
Signaling Networks in Sporadic Alzheimer's Disease
May 2018
Shawn J. Marcell, M.S.
Major Professor: Ludmila Belayev, MD
Thesis: The impact of Docosahexaenoic Acid on Neurogenesis
following Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Rats
May 2016
Sworonim Man Shrestha, M.S.
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: Oxidative Stress Mediated TGF-Beta1 Signaling Pathway
December 2015
Dr. Hamilton Farris with Dr. Hongtian Yan and his mentor, Dr. Houhui Xia
Hongtian Yan, PhD
Dissertation: Inhibitor-2 is a novel memory suppressor by regulating protein phosphatase-1 in CREB-mediated gene transcription
May 2015
Surjyadipta Bhattacharjee
Major Professor: Walter J. Lukiw, BS, MS, Ph.D.
Dissertation: MicroRNA Mediated Disease Signaling in Neural and Retinal Degeneration
Sung-Ha Hong
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: A Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Experimental Stroke with Docosahexaenoic Acid
Ph.D. Graduates with Dr. Hamilton Farris, Dr. Manqi Wang, Dr. Sung-Ha Hong,
Dr. Eric Knott (Ph.D. and M.P.H.), Dr. Surjyadipta Bhattacharjee and Dr. Kun Qian
Dr. Hamilton Farris, Dr. Xin Xu, Dr. Benjamin Siddoway and Dr. Hugh Xia
May 2014
Miguel Frederico Molina
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: Neurodegeneration and Pathological Aging: Systemic Inflammation,
Microglia, and Excitotoxicity - A Current Analysis
Dr. Nicolas G. Bazan with Dr. Amanda Henne
August 2014
Kun Qian, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Carmen Canavier, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Mathematical Analysis of Depolarization Block in Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons
Manqi Wang, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Matthew Whim, Ph.D.
Dissertation: The Role of Neuropeptide Y in Sympathoadrenal Plasticity and the Response to Stress
May 2014
Eric J. Knott, Ph.D. (left) with
Aram Asatryan, Ph.D. (right)
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: NPD1-Mediated Transcriptional Regulation of BIRC3
Expression Through cREL is Essential for RPE Cell Survival
December 2013
Eric J. Knott, Ph.D. (left)
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: Significance of Docosanoid Signaling in Retina
Preconditioning: RPE/Photoreceptor Cell Survival
Shi Bai, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Christian Sheline, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Zinc, Zinc Homeostasis and Zinc Binding Proteins
in Light-induced Retinal Degeneration
August 2013
John Cefalu, M.S.
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Thesis: HMGB1 and Wnt Signaling: Significance in the
Protection Mediated by DHA/NPD1 Pathway
May 2013
Brandon Michael Jones, M.S.
Major Professor: Walter J. Lukiw, Ph.D.
Thesis: Neurobiological Mechanisms of Anatomically and
Functionally Distinct Mammalian Memory Systems
Long Li, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Chunlai Wu, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Drosophila Syd-1, Liprin-α and PP2A B' Subunit Wrd Function in a
Linear Pathway to Regulate Vesicle Clustering at Synaptic Terminal
Nirmala Tumarada, M.S.
Major Professor: Christian Sheline, Ph.D.
Thesis: The Role of Zn2+ Homeostatis in Immune Regulation,
Beta-cell loss, and Diabetic Incidence
August 2012
Kristopher Graye Sheets, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: The Role of Neuroprotectin D1 in Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Shuoguo Wang, Ph.D.
Department: Neuroscience
Major Professor: Carmen C. Canavier, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Phase Resetting and Phase Locking in Neural Circuits
December 2011
Benjamin Alexander Siddoway, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Houhui Xia, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Dissertation: Synaptic Activity Drives a Novel Phosphoproteome of the ATM/ATR
Kinases that Regulates Homeostatic Plasticity through Protein Phosphatase1
August 2011
David Litner, M.S.
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Thesis: LAU Compounds, Novel Platelet-Activating Factor (PAF) Antagonists, Inhibit Upregulation
of Proinflammatory Genes Induced by Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) in Retinal Pigment
Epithelial Cells (ARPE-19)
David T. Stark, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: Synaptic and Extrasynaptic NMDA Receptors Differentially Modulate Neuronal
Cyclooxygenase-2 function, Lipid Peroxidation, and Neuroprotection
Xin Xu, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Youming Lu, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: DAPK1 Regulates Extrasynaptic NMDA Receptors in Stroke Damage
May 2011
Tiffany Niemoller Eady, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D .
Dissertation: Docosahexaenoic Acid, Neurolipidomics, and the Ischemic Penumbra of Stroke
Hongbo He, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Jeffrey D. Erickson, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Functional Distinctions between Vesicular Glutamate Transporter Isoforms
VGLUT1 and VGLUT2 in Synaptic Plasticity
Abhilash Ponnath, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Hamilton E. Farris, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Adaptation the Auditory System: Effects on Temporal Coding
and Novel Stimulus Detection
Tabitha Morgan Quebedeaux, M.D., Ph.D.
2016 Aesculapian Excellence in Teaching Awards
Third Year Resident
Dr. Tabitha Quebedeaux, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Graduate in Neuroscience
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: Dentate Gyrus Hyperexcitability Following Status Epilepticus:
Characterization and attenuation by Neuroprotectin D1
May 2010
Virginia Medinilla, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Sonia Gasparini, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Distance-Dependent Differences in the Synaptic Properties of
Layer V Neurons of the Rat Medial Entorhinal Cortex
December 2009
Hani Nakhoul, M.S.
Major Professor: Carmen C. Canavier, Ph.D.
Thesis: Computational Modeling of Firing Patterns of Midbrain Dopamine Neurons
Rajee Antony, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: Neuroprotectin D1 Dephosphorylates BCL-XL in a PP2A-Dependent
Manner During Oxidative Stress in ARPE-19 Cells
Jorgelina Muriel Calandria, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: 15 Lipoxygenase-1-Derived Neuroprotectin D1 Modulates Gene
Transcription and Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cell Survival
Selvakumar Maran Selandipalayam, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Carmen C. Canavier, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Phase Resetting and its Applications to Anaylsis of Neural Circuits
August 2009
Ni Fan, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Chu Chen, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Mechanisms of Marijuana Altered Synaptic Plasticity
May 2009
Sukhjeevan Grewal, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Jeffrey Erickson, Ph.D.
Dissertation: The Physiological Role of the SNAT2 Glutamine
Transporter in Neurons
Jessica Waguespack, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Anthony Ricci, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Investigation of In Vitro Maturation of Rat Outer Hair Cells
Using Morphological and Physiological Tools
Yuhai Zhao, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Walter J. Lukiw, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Neuroprotectin D1 Exerts Potent Anti-Apoptotic, Anti-inflammatory and
Anti-Amyloidogenic Bioactivities Cellular Models of Alzheimer's Disease
August 2008
Hitoshi Kuroda, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Jakob Reiser, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Optimization of Lentivirus Vectors for Gene Delivery to the Hippocampus
May 2008
Javier Pacheco Quinto, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: Role of Homocysteine in the Pathophysiology of Alzheimer's Disease
Marie Elise Kuebel Morris, M.S.
Major Professor: Jeffrey Erickson, Ph.D.
Thesis: Analysis of the Vesicular Glutamate Transporter 2 (VGLUT2)
Structural Motifs which Confer Functionality
May 2007
Daniel Navar, M.S.
Major Professor: John Porter, Ph.D.
Thesis: Dehydroepiandrosterone Blocks the Neuropeptide y-induced
Hyperphagia in the Zucker Rat
December 2006
Fang Liu, M.S.
Major Professor: Miguel Pappolla, M.D., Ph.D.
Thesis: Contribution of APOE Promoter-491A/T Polymorphism Cholesterol to
Beta-Amyloid Deposit in the APOE Epsilon 3/3 Human Being
Jayanta Mukherjee, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Rene Anand, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Biogenesis of the alpha 7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor
Juan de Rivero Vaccari, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Theodore Weyand, Ph.D.
Dissertation: NMDA Receptor-Dependent Neural Protection in Development
May 2006
Michelle S. Steinhardt, M.S.
Major Professor: Walter Lukiw, Ph.D.
Thesis: Gene-Expression Patterns in Alzheimer Superior
Temporal Lobe Neocortex Analyzed Using High Density DNA Arrays
August 2005
Gabriel Conrado Quintero, M.S.
Major Professor: Reha Erzurumlu, Ph.D.
Thesis: Effects of Cortex Specific Knockout of the N-Methyl-D-Aspartate
NRI-Subunit on Pain Behavior in Mice
May 2005
Carmel Bridgeman, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Jeffrey Magee, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Sleep Deprivation Induced Alterations in Hippocampal Functioning
December 2004
Ali Genc, M.S.
Major Professor: Chu Chen, Ph.D.
Thesis:
December 2003
Michael J. Monroe, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Emel Songu-Mize, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Central Neural Control of Gastric Motor Function in Mice:
In Vivo Studies Using a Novel Minaturized Barostate
May 2003
Peimin Zhu, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: Platelet-Activating Factor (PAF) is a Mediator of Glutamate
Receptors-Oxidative Stress Signaling in Neuronal Survival
December 2002
Xing Cheng, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Bronya Keats, Ph.D.
Dissertation: The Prevalence and Clinical Features of Hearing Impairment
Associated with GJB2
August 2002
Akash Datwani, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Reha Erzurumlu, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Sculpting of Cortical Circuitry by N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptors
May 2002
Adam Haeberle, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Reha Erzurumlu, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Axon Guidance and Target Interactions in the
Developing Trigeminal System
December 2001
Zanyu Zhang, M.S.
Major Professor: Roger Beuerman, Ph.D.
Thesis:
August 2001
Scott F. Davis, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Ted Weyand, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Consequences of NMDA Receptor Activation in the Distal Retina
Mark A. Parker, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: The Effects of PAF in Brain Mitochondria: New Ideas on Old Receptors
May 2001
Anthony Paul Barnes, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Prescott Deininger, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Regulation of the BCI RNA-Ribonucleoprotein Complex in Rodent Brain
Bin Tu, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: Synaptic Signaling in Kindling Epileptogenesis
December 2000
Neva Christina West, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Prescott Deininger, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Purification, Expression and Binding Properties of BC1 Ribonucleoproteins
August 2000
Christopher S. LeBlanc, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Richard P. Bobbin, Ph.D.
Dissertation: An Assessment of Antisense and Whole-Cell Voltage-Clamp
Methodologies in Indicating the Function and Source of Perlymphatic ATP in the Guinea
Pig Cochlea
Michael Serou, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: Interleukin-1 beta Mediated Signaling to Genes: Implications for Neuronal Survival
May 2000
Michael F. Salvatore, Ph.D.
Major Professor: John Haycock, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Regulation of Tyrosinc Hydroxylase Phosphorylation in situ and in vivo
December 1999
Margaret M. DeAngelis, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Mark A. Batzer, Ph.D.
Dissertation: In Search of the Gene Responsible for Acadian Usher Syndrome on 11p
December 1998
Lisa A. Teather, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: Neurobiological Mechanisms of Anatomically and
Functionally Distinct Mammalian Memory Systems
August 1998
Mark L. Baker, Ph.D.
Major Professor: Bryan Gebhardt, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Response to Astrocytes and Microglia to Herpes Simplex Type I Infection
Candidates for Degrees, LSU Medical Center, 1992
John Philip Doucet
Program: Biochemistry
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: The Primary Genomic Response