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D. James Surmeier, PhD

Nathan Smith Davis Professor and Chair, Department of Neuroscience at Northwestern University

Location: Chicago, IL United States

D. James Surmeier, PhD, is the Nathan Smith Davis Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. He studied mathematics as an undergraduate at the University of Idaho and received his PhD in physiology and biophysics at the University of Washington. He pioneered the use of advanced electrophysiological, optical, and molecular approaches to unravel the roles of dopamine and acetylcholine in modulating the striatal circuitry implicated in Parkinson’s disease. These studies have yielded fundamental insights into how striatal circuits adapt to the disease and how they contribute to side effects of symptomatic treatment. In addition, Dr. Surmeier’s group has made a significant contribution to our understanding of how the physiology of dopaminergic neurons leads to the mitochondrial oxidant stress implicated in Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis. These studies have served as a foundation for large-scale clinical trials aimed at slowing Parkinson’s disease progression.


Associated Grants

  • Distributed Circuit Dysfunction Underlying Motor and Sleep Deficits in a Progressive Model of Parkinson’s Disease

    2021


  • Inducing Aging in Brain Cells to Better Understand Parkinson's Disease

    2018


  • Amelioration of Mitochondrial Oxidant Stress by Isradipine and Rasagiline

    2015


  • Targeting M4 Muscarinic Receptors for the Treatment of Levodopa-induced Dyskinesia

    2015


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