Daily Biological Clocks

Douglas G. McMahon
Professor of Biological Sciences
MRB III Room 8270A
615-936-3933 (office)
douglas.g.mcmahon@vanderbilt.edu

The two primary interests of my laboratory are in understanding the cellular and molecular  mechanisms of the daily biological clock and the adaptation of retinal circuitry to different levels of light and darkness. To this end we are applying a variety of modern neurobiological techniques including patch clamp electrophysiological recording from neurons and brain slices, biochemical analysis of modulatory signals, real-time fluorescent imaging of gene expression dynamics in living neural tissue, cloning and heterologous expression of synaptic ion channel genes and production of transgenic mice with novel gene reporter constructs. Our goal is to combine neurophysiological and molecular genetic approaches to understand the visual and circadian systems of the brain.

For more information, please visit the lab website.