WELCOME

THE DEPARTMENT

Physiology and Membrane Biology is one of five Basic Science Departments in the School of Medicine, University of California, Davis. The department was founded in 1966. The Department is housed in recently renovated space on the fourth floor of Tupper Hall. The offices and research laboratories within the department occupy approximately 9500 square feet in Tupper Hall. At the present time there are 9.5 FTE and 2 Research faculty all with active research programs. The department faculty are actively involved in teaching at the undergraduate, graduate and medical levels. Graduate students in the department are members of campus-wide graduate groups and conduct their research under the direction of the departmental faculty members.

RESEARCH EFFORTS

The Research interests of The Faculty of the Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology are focused on membrane physiology with a broad integrating theme of fluid and electrolyte homeostasis. Funding for faculty research programs within the department is provided by the National Institutes of Health, and to a lesser extent through a number of extramural agencies, including the American Heart Association, Shriners Children Hospital, Genentech Inc., various donors, and a variety of intramural sources. Specific areas of faculty research interest include:

MEMBRANE TRANSPORT/ION CHANNELS

Cell volume and pH regulation,
K Channels
Cyclic nucleotide-gated channels
Ion transport by vascular endothelial and trabecular cells
Signal transduction,
Structure-function,
Membrane Trafficking,
Neural regeneration and plasticity,
Molecular physiology of the Na-K-Cl and K-Cl cotransporters
functional consequences and control in the CNS
Molecular physiology NHE 1
Airway epithelia biology/cystic fibrosis
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors
Store-operated Ca²⁺ channels
Intracellular Ca²⁺ signaling

CIRCULATORY PHYSIOLOGY

Microcirculation,
Microvascular permeability,
Endothelial cell biology,
Cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology,
Myocardial hypoxia and ischemia
Stroke

NEURAL AND MUSCLE DEVELOPMENT, REGENERATION AND PLASTICITY

Neuromuscular synapse formation,
Neuronal synapse formation and plasticity,
Trophic interactions of nerve and muscle
In all cases, the research employs a combination of cell, molecular and biophysical methodologies in order to address questions relevant to cell and organ physiology and pathophysiology.

The Department is well equipped with modern instrumentation necessary for optical biology and molecular methods plus shared instrumentation for NMR. Departmental faculty members are involved in active collaboration with faculty in the Departments of Neurology, Cardiovascular Medicine, Surgery, Plastic Surgery, PM&R and Ophthalmology and Anesthesiology.