Nikhil M. Urs, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida. He received a PhD in applied biology in 2007 from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. His graduate research focus was on G-protein coupled receptors and beta-arrestin signaling. He joined the laboratory of Dr. Marc Caron in 2007 and studies beta-arrestin dependent-processes in dopamine signaling and their role in abnormal brain pathology in schizophrenia, Parkinson's, ADHD and addiction. Research in the Urs lab at the University of Florida will focus on Parkinson's disease and deciphering abnormal catecholamine (chemical messenger) neurotransmission in the brain, including biochemical, circuit-level  and  behavioral aspects. The Urs lab will employ state-of-the-art screening techniques to discover new small molecule drugs that can alleviate Parkinson's symptoms.