Sensory Systems

BIOGRAPHY

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Physiology of taste transduction, neurotransmitters in taste cells and nasal solitary chemoreceptor cells - role in detection of irritants and pathogenic bacteria.
Our research is focused on two chemical sensory systems: the gustatory system and the trigeminal system.In the gustatory system, we are interested in how taste cells detect chemical stimuli, how stimuli are transduced into receptor potentials, and how this information is transmitted to gustatory afferent fibers. Studies on the trigeminal system include the function of solitary chemoreceptor cells in the nasal respiratory epithelium. These cells, which express elements of the bitter taste transduction cascade, are innervated by the trigeminal nerve.Solitary chemoreceptor cells detect noxious chemicals and pathogenic bacteria that enter the airways, provoking protective airway reflexes such as apnea and sneezing. We are interested in what compounds are detected by these cells, how the cells are activated, and how this information is transmitted to the trigeminal nerve.


EDUCATION:
(1971) MS, Zoology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
(1982) PhD, Biology, Neuroscience concentration, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS


AWARDS:
April, 2001 - Outstanding Achievement Award, Association for Chemoreception Sciences