Andreea Bostan, PhD
Andreea is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology and the Systems Neuroscience Center at the University of Pittsburgh. A graduate of the University of Toronto, she received her doctorate in Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh. Andreea has used neurotropic viruses as transneuronal tracers to establish that the cerebellum and basal ganglia are interconnected and form an integrated network with the cerebral cortex. She is particularly interested in how changes in the integrated network, which links the cerebellum with the basal ganglia and the cerebral cortex, contribute to the manifestation of neurologic and psychiatric disorders.
Hong-Yuan Chu, PhD
Hong-Yuan Chu, PhD, received his PhD degree in neuropharmacology from the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (China) in 2010. He then relocated to the United States to conduct postdoctoral research with positions at the National Institute of Mental Health (Bethesda, MD) and the Department of Physiology and Udall Center of Excellence in Parkinson’s Disease Research at Northwestern University (Chicago, IL). In 2019, Dr. Chu was recruited to the Department of Neurodegenerative Science at the Van Andel Institute (Grand Rapids, MI), where he is currently an assistant professor. His laboratory uses multiple technologies to understand how progressive dopaminergic neurodegeneration alters the connectivity and function of cortico-basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits, and how such changes contribute to the motor deficits in Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Chu holds an R01 research award from the National Institutes of Health and the NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (2020).
Rui Costa, PhD
His laboratory develops and uses genetic, electrophysiological, optical, and behavioral approaches to investigate the neurobiology of action in health and disease. He uncovered that direct and indirect striatal pathways are concurrently active during movement initiation, that this activity is action-specific, and needed for proper movement — challenging the classical “go/no-go” model of basal ganglia function. He also demonstrated dopaminergic neuron heterogeneity by showing that a subpopulation is active before movement, and critical for initiating and invigorating future movement. These findings have implications for movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease. He has received several awards such as the Ariëns Kappers Medal from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Young Investigator Award from SFN and is an elected member of EMBO and the National Academy of Medicine.
Stephanie Cragg, PhD
Stephanie Cragg, MA, DPhil, is Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at the University of Oxford, and a fellow of Christ Church College Oxford. Her research focuses on elucidating the mechanisms that govern dopamine transmission within the basal ganglia, spanning the interacting circuits and underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms. She has a strong focus on identifying dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease, through investigations in a range of parkinsonian models: transgenic, toxin-, or aggregation-induced. Dr. Cragg and her team have technical expertise in the use of electrochemistry, electrophysiology, neuropharmacology, and conditional genetic targeting, as well as optical and imaging technologies to probe the mechanisms governing dopamine transmission. Dr. Cragg is an Associate Editor of the open access journal npj Parkinson’s disease and is a founding Investigator of the Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre.
Peter Magill, PhD
Peter J. Magill, DPhil, is Professor of Neurobiology, an MRC Investigator, and Interim Director of the MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit at the University of Oxford. Peter’s Dr. Magill’s core research interests are movement control and neurodegenerative disorders. He has spent his research career elucidating the operational principles of the basal ganglia and partner brain networks, with a focus on defining the cell and circuit substrates of perturbed brain activity and behavior in Parkinsonism. Dr. Magill and his team have particular expertise in the use of whole-animal models (rodents). In vivo electrophysiological recording techniques, ex vivo quantitative anatomical methods, and the use of genetics-based approaches for the monitoring and manipulation of specified cell types are all central to Peter’s research strategy. Dr. Magill has been an MRC Programme Leader since 2009. He is the recipient of an Investigator Award from The Wellcome Trust and is also a founding Investigator at the Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre.
Jose Obeso, MD, PhD
José Obeso, MD, PhD, heads a highly active team devoted to stopping the progression of Parkinson’s disease (PD). He is a group leader at the Biomedical Research Networking Center on Neurodegenerative Diseases and also the director of Fundación HM Hospitales. He was editor in chief of the Movement Disorders journal (2010-2020) taking it to its highest historical performance (IF=10.33; 10th among all neurology titles). He occupies the Neurology Chair (#48) of the Royal National Academy of Medicine of Spain (2017). His current Hirsch index is 86 (ISI) and 108 (Google Scholar) out of more than 350 peer-reviewed papers on the pathophysiology of the basal ganglia, the role of the subthalamic nucleus, levodopa-related motor complications in PD. He had a major role in developing the concept of continuous dopaminergic stimulation and the revitalization of functional neurosurgery for PD in the 1990’s. His current interest is focused on understanding the factors leading to neuronal vulnerability in Parkinson’s disease, aiming to stop the progressive evolution of neurodegeneration.
Yoland Smith, PhD
Yoland Smith, PhD, received a PhD degree from Laval University (Quebec, Canada) in 1988. After postdoctoral training at Oxford University (Oxford, England) and Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD), he was appointed Assistant Professor of Anatomy at Laval University in 1991. In 1996, he joined the faculty of Emory University (Atlanta, GA), where he is currently Professor and Vice-Chair of Faculty Development in Neurology, and Chief of the Division of Neuropharmacology and Neurological Disorders at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. His research has been continuously funded by the NIH. He is a member of Emory’s Udall Center of Excellence in Parkinson’s Disease Research and has published over 250 manuscripts on the pathophysiology of parkinsonism and related disorders. He is a Senior Editor of the European Journal of Neuroscience. He is also principal investigator of the NIH T32 Training grant that supports the Emory’s Graduate Program in Neuroscience.
Peter Strick, PhD
Peter L. Strick, PhD, is Thomas Detre Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurobiology, Scientific Director of the Brain Institute, and Co-Director of the Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh. He heads the NIH-funded Center for Neuroanatomy with Neurotropic Viruses, which provides the neuroscience community with highly specialized reagents, training, and facilities for the use of viruses as transneuronal tracers. Dr. Strick’s research focuses on three major topics: (ai) the motor areas of the cerebral cortex—their involvement in movement generation and control, as well as in motor skill acquisition and retention; (bii) the motor, cognitive and affective functions of the basal ganglia and cerebellum; and (ciii) the neural basis for the brain-body connection. Dr. Strick received the Cajal Club’s Krieg Cortical Kudos Discover Award in 2019 and an NIH Director's Transformative Research Award in 2018. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2012.
Robert Turner, PhD
Robert S. Turner, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Neurobiology at the University of Pittsburgh and Director of Graduate Studies at the Center for Neuroscience. Dr. Turner has extensive experience studying the neural correlates of parkinsonism and deep brain stimulation for parkinsonism using a variety of techniques. He has published extensively on the neurophysiologic correlates of parkinsonism and of deep brain stimulation therapy using nonhuman primate models. In parallel, Dr. Turner has collaborated on functional imaging studies of parkinsonism and deep brain stimulation in human patients and on intra-operative neuronal recording studies performed in patients undergoing surgical therapies for Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Turner earned his PhD working with Dr. Marjorie Anderson at the University of Washington, Seattle, and completed postdoctoral training with Dr. Mahlon DeLong at Emory University. He joined the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco in 2000 and then moved to the University of Pittsburgh in 2007
