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Center for Learning and Memory
The University of Texas at Austin

Current members of the Johnston lab

DanDaniel Johnston Dan is our scientific and intellectual leader. Although Directorship of the Center for Learning and Memory and the Institute for Neuroscience has put serious demands on his time, he remains intimately involved with all aspects of the various research projects in the lab. He always has time to offer valuable suggestions and comments to all of us.

RickRick Gray Rick has been part of Dan's lab for a long, long time (He still has vacuum tubes for a Tektronix 502 oscilloscope in his desk). He's interested in all aspects of the modulation of electrical activity in neurons. You can read more about his research, and his other science-related and personal interests on his webpage.

YouRandy Chitwood Randy is interested in synaptic integration and plasticity in the input and output regions of the hippocampal formation, specifically the entorhinal cortex and subiculum. He is currently investigating the mechanisms of activity-dependent changes in both synaptic function, and intrinsic excitability in principle neurons of these areas.

Darrin Brager Darrin studied the activity-dependent regulation of neurotransmitter release at the University of Maryland School of Medicine before joining the Johnston Lab in 2003. He currently is investigating the role of postsynaptic ion channel modulation in excitability of CA1 pyramidal cell dendrites under both physiological and pathological conditions.

Stephanie Carlson Stephanie joined the lab in October 2006. She is interested in studying the neurons of the entorhinal cortex; specifically she wants to characterize the expression of dendritic ion channels and determine how this expression changes under pathological conditions. Her current project involves investigating the TLE-induced modulation of the A-type potassium current and channel subunits in the EC. She uses a variety of techniques, including electrophysiology, immunohistochemistry, and RT-PCR.

Yul Young Park Yul Young Park joined the laboratory, as a PhD student, in 2006. His current research interests are in the modulation of sodium channel by various neurophamacological agents and the functional consequences of these modulations. He plans to achieve this using whole cell/cell-attached/ nucleated patch techniques.
Rishi Narayanan Rishi joined the lab in January 2005. His current research interests are in activity-dependent modulation of ion channels and the physiological consequences of such modulations. Payne Chang Payne joined our lab in Sept., 2006. He is interested in studying how a neuron and a group of neurons process signals, store information, and functions as a part of the nervous system. He plans to use electrophysiological techniques, computer simulation and imaging to study basic operations in single neurons and possibly interaction between pyramidal neurons and interneurons in the hippocampus.
Laurea Diaz Laurea joined the lab in April 2005. Her interests are on molecularly changing expression levels of proteins of interest to learning and memory in neurons and discovering how the biophysical properties change. Cliff Rumsey Cliff joined the lab in 2005. He is interested in the activity-dependence of intrinsic plasticity in CA1 pyramidal neurons and in applying both experimental and computational approaches to this topic.
Chung Sub Kim Chung Sub joined Dr. Daniel Johnston’ s laboratory as a Ph.D. student in 2007. His current research is to investigate the cellular and molecular level of HCN1 channel. He is going to use siRNA technique with lentiviral system to manipulate HCN1 channel in vivo. Brandy Zrubek Brandy joined the laboratory in 2006. She is working on patch-clamp experiments on hippocampal neurons.

nikNikolai Dembrow Nik joined the lab in 2007. He is currently examining the effects of cholinergic modulation on the intrinsic properties of layer 5 pyramidal neurons of entorhinal and prefrontal cortex, and how this subserves different forms of working memory.

 Ann Clemens

sachinSachin Vaidya

Seena Mathew
Contact Us | ©2006 Center for Learning and Memory, UT Austin | May 19, 2008