I am a clinician-scientist with an active basic and translational neuroscience research program. My research goal is to understand how synapses are formed by neurons and how these neurons contribute to information processing in both healthy and diseased brains. My lab uses electrophysiology, molecular biology, immunohistochemistry and translational models of neurological disease to study neuronal circuit structure and function. I also maintain a clinical practice in anesthesiology in the VA Portland Health Care System, caring for veterans with a wide array of neurosurgical, cardiovascular, and oncologic conditions. 

Our current research focuses on how synapses are formed in the brain by adult-born neurons, how these neurons contribute to neuronal circuit function, and how they contribute to recovery from neurologic injury. Newly generated neurons must be integrated into existing neuronal circuits to contribute to information processing, and alterations in this process could have profound clinical implications. Our current focus is on understanding how adult-born neurons might contribute to the pathogenesis of post-traumatic epilepsy, and we have developed techniques to analyze synaptic transmission at synapses formed by these adult-born cells and to evaluate the behavioral consequences of activity in these adult-born neurons. Our scientific expertise lies in the study of neuronal structure and synaptic function, using electrophysiology, molecular biology, translational models and immunohistochemical/anatomical imaging techniques.