School of Medicine

Neuroscience Center of Excellence

Graduation Date

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

neuro grad 2016 web

Dr. Hamilton Farris with Dr. Hongtian Yan and his mentor, Dr. Houhui Xia

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

 

2015 9:17:56 AM

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

2012 4:28:58 PM
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

2014 9:10:17 AM
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

2014 9:00:20 AM 

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

NB and Doucet 1992 grad001

John Philip Doucet

Program: Biochemistry
Major Professor: Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissertation: The Primary Genomic Response