Members of the Center for Neurobiology of Stress fall into one or more of the following categories: (1) investigators at UCLA, VAGLAHS, Ohio State University, University of Pittsburgh, or other campus who are principal or co-principal investigators with peer-reviewed, competitive funding for research in neurovisceral sciences, gastrointestinal disorders, urological disorders, and stress neurobiology, and stress-immune system interactions, particularly related to sex-based differences and whose research directly impacts the goals of the Center; (2) division chiefs in gastroenterology, urology, obstetrics and gynecology, and psychiatry; (3) directors or co-directors of programs or cores, or individuals who have relevant roles within the Center and (4) clinicians who have made significant contributions to the main subject matters of the Center.
If you are interested in becoming a member, please contact Million Mulugeta, DVM, PhD at mmuluget@ucla.edu.
Members are listed in alphabetical order.
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Paul Micevych, PhD
Distinguished Professor, Head and Neck Surgery; Chair and Distinguished Professor, Neurobiology; Member, Brain Research Institute; Molecular, Cellular & Integrative Physiology GPB Home Area; Neuroscience GPB Home Area
The reproductive hormones estradiol and progesterone bathe our internal organs. They have profound influence over the central and peripheral nervous system. While these steroids have been studied for many years, recent advances indicate that many actions of estradiol in the nervous system are mediated by receptors located on the cell membrane, suggesting more of a neurotransmitter than a hormonal role. My lab is working to understand the multiple mechanisms and circuits through which estrogen and progesterone affect cell types in different systems to affect reproduction, behavior, pain transmission and neuroprotection.
Research efforts in the Micevych laboratory involve understanding the cellular and molecular events underlying estrogen action on neurons and glial cells. Estrogen has profound effects on cognitive function and neuroprotection, as well as, reproductive functions. Estrogen affects the expression and activity of various neuropeptides and sex steroids. In particular they have focused on regulation mu-opioid and nociceptin receptors in the CNS regulation of sexual behavior. Recent experiments have demonstrated the synthesis of progesterone in the brain, its regulation by estrogen and physiologic functions of neuroprogesterone. RT-PCR and calcium imaging experiments in neurons and astrocytes have been used to elucidate the mechanisms of estrogen rapid signaling in both glial cells and neurons. The Micevych laboratory has demonstrated that estrogen can modulate nociceptive signaling through rapid actions on primary sensory neurons demonstrating a novel mechanism of estrogen modulation of pain. Additionally, the Micevych Laboratory has been studying the neuroprotective action of estrogen in the nigrostriatal dopamine system. Estrogen activates the insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) to ameliorate a hallmark of ParkinsonA?s disease A? the neurodegeneration of dopamine neurons. Significantly, estrogen or IGF-1 is efficacious after either central or peripheral administration. Together these experiments underscore the broad range of estrogen signaling influencing both physiology and pathology.
Holly Middlekauff, MD
Professor of Medicine, UCLA
My research is focused on the derangements of the autonomic nervous system, especially the sympathetic nervous system, in humans with heart failure. I am currently studying the abnormal reflex responses to exercise in heart failure patients, and how these contribute to the overall exercise limitation in heart failure. We are testing the hypothesis that exaggerated sympatho-excitatory responses to exercise in heart failure are mediated by muscle mechanoreceptor sensory nerves, which have been sensitized by ischemic metabolites. A secondary focus of my research is on the effects of acupuncture on the autonomic nervous system.
Million Mulugeta, DVM, PhD
Associate Director, CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center; Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine, Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Digestive Diseases/Gastroenterology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Mulugeta focuses on the role of CRF2 receptors (CRF2R) in stress-related alteration of colonic function and visceral pain. His research program tests the hypothesis that CRFR2 activation modulates stress-related neuroenteric physiology, lower gut motor function alterations and stress-related visceral pain of colonic origin. Short term goals are 1) identification of enteric neuron, neuroendocrine and spinal cells expressing the CRF2R and its ligand/s and 2) understanding of the interaction of CRF2R and CRF1R activation during stress. Long-term goals include defining the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the coping response, homeostasis, of the gastrointestinal tract during stress.
Dr Mulugeta has published several papers on the brain-gut interaction and stress related gastrointestinal motility, pain and inflammatory responses. He serves as a peer-reviewer for numerous medical journals, and is on the editorial boards for the Digestive Diseases & Science and the World Journal of Gastroenterology. Dr Mulugeta is recipient of several awards including the 2011 International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders award in basic sciences. Dr Mulugeta’s research is supported by NIH and industry grants.
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Bruce Naliboff, PhD
Director, Pain Research Program, UCLA Oppenheimer Family Center for Neurobiology of Stress; Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
My research has focused on psychological and psychophysiological mechanisms of stress and pain, including sex differences, utilizing a variety of methodologies and with particular emphasis on visceral pain disorders such as IBS. The development and assessment of nonpharmacological treatments targeted at chronic pain has also been a significant focus of my research. These include cognitive behavioral therapies as well as alternative medicine treatments of yoga and meditation. An important theme of this research is the use of both psychological and physiological measures (including autonomic assessment and brain imaging) to better understand the mechanism of change from non-pharmacological interventions and use of this information to guide better targeting of treatments to specific problems and individual phenotypes. My role Project Co-Leader for Project 3 in the current application involves working on the overall design, assessment protocols and application of the CBT treatment to interventional phenotyping. I have a long and close collaboration with Dr. Mayer, Dr. Chang and the other Investigators who will have my extensive background in behavioral, perceptual, psychophysiological and intervention research applied to chronic pain at their disposal throughout the study.
Publications
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/bruce.naliboff.1/bibliograpahy/44607532/public/
P
Martin Paulus, MD
Professor in Residence, Department of Psychiatry, Laboratory of Biological Dynamics and Theoretical Medicine, University of California, San Diego
Dr. Paulus studied Medicine at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz from 1979-1985. He received a postdoctoral fellowship from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) in 1986 to study the effects of calcium antagonists on animal models of mania at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). In 1993, Dr. Paulus left UCSD to resume his medical training and completed his internship at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center / Zucker Hillside Hospital on Long Island, NY. In 1994, he rejoined the Department of Psychiatry at UCSD as a psychiatric resident. Dr. Paulus completed his residency in psychiatry in 1997. At that time, he joined the Department of Psychiatry at UCSD as an Assistant Professor. He also became a staff psychiatrist at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Health Care System (VASDHS). Dr. Paulus is currently a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSD and Director of Telemental Health at the VASDHS, which focuses on delivering evidence based psychotherapy to Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. In May 2014, Dr. Paulus joined the Laureate Institute For Brain Research (LIBR) in Tulsa, OK, as the Scientific Director and President.
Joseph Pisegna, MD
Professor, Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; Chief, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System
Dr. Joseph Pisegna is Professor of Medicine at UCLA and Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Dr. Pisegna is interested in the molecular pharmacology of hormones and receptors in the gastrointestinal tract, especially the diagnosis and management of islet cell tumors of the pancreas, including the Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome. These research and clinical interests derive from research in the biochemistry and physiology of neuroendocrine tumors. While a fellow at the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Pisegna first developed a clinical interest in the Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome (ZES), where he discovered and cloned the receptor for gastrin and named it the cholecystokinin B receptor. More recently, Dr. Pisegna has demonstrated that receptors for gastrin are present in the kidney and mediate food-induced regulation of salt excretion. Dr. Pisegna was recruited to the faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles and the Center for Ulcer Research and Education (CURE) in 1996. He is a recipient of the VA Career Development Award at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center. His addition to the faculty of the UCLA Center for Pancreatic Diseases provides unsurpassed expertise in the diagnosis and medical management of pancreatic endocrine tumors.
Charalabos Pothoulakis, MD
Director of Research, UCLA Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; Professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Digestive Diseases/Gastroenterology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Pothoulakis graduated from the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki Medical School in Greece and he joined the Division of Gastroenterology at Boston University Medical Center as a Research Fellow in Gastroenterology in 1982. After completion of his fellowship he became a faculty member at the Department of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. Dr Pothoulakis joined the Division of Gastroenterology at Beth Israel Medical Center, Harvard Medical School in 1996 as an Assistant Professor and became Professor of Medicine in this institution in 2005. In 2003 he established a “Gastrointestinal Neuropeptide Center” in the Division of Gastroenterology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center that involved a multi-disciplinary approach to study neuropeptide function in the GI tract. During his tenure at Harvard Medical School he has also been a member of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Massachusetts General Hospital and he was the Director of a NIH Program Project grant that examined the barrier function of the GI Tract in health and disease.
Dr. Pothoulakis’ research program is primarily focused on the role of neuropeptides and hormones in several disease states, including Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Clostridium difficile infection, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. His recent projects also involve the neuropeptide-dependent mechanisms by which communication between the intestinal mucosa and the fat depots affect the pathogenesis of intestinal inflammation. He is an author of over 165 original articles and numerous reviews and book chapters and served in the Editorial Board of several biomedical journals, including Gastroenterology, and American Journal of Physiology. He was recently elected as the Vice Chair of the Hormones, Transmitters, Growth Factors and Receptors Section of the American Gastroenterological Association, and has been a member of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Section of this Association. In 2005 Dr. Pothoulakis received an honorary degree from Harvard University and he is the recipient of the “Janssen Award in Basic Research in Gastrointestinal Motility” by the American Gastroenterological Association for his discoveries and insights into the function of gastrointestinal neuropeptides. Dr. Pothoulakis’ research projects have been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, the Broad Foundation, The Martin Blinder Foundation for Crohn’s Disease, and the Knapp Foundation.
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Andrea Rapkin, MD
Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA; Director, UCLA Pelvic Pain Clinic
I am a Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Director of the Pelvic Pain Clinic and the Vulvodynia research program and the PMDD research program at the University of California, Los Angeles. As an internationally recognized leader in the study of chronic pelvic and vulvar pain and hormonally mediated mood disorders I have authored or co-authored over a 120 articles, chapters, books, and reviews in this area. I have investigated peripheral and central mechanisms underlying pain and mood related to the reproductive system.
I am thoroughly versed in the literature and have very substantial clinical experience and a well-defined track record in the research and treatment of vulvodynia, pelvic pain, menstrually related mood disorders and menopause. I initiated one of the first multidisciplinary pelvic and vulvar pain clinics in the country. My goals were to offer comprehensive and innovative clinical care and access to current research studies for women suffering from complex chronic pelvic and vulvar pain disorders. Our UCLA site is also one of five research centers participating in the National Vulvodynia Patient Outcomes Registry thus far resulting in 4 publications with 1 under review.
I have collaborated with the investigators at the G Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience at UCLA for many years. If this proposal is funded, I will assist Drs. Chang and Gupta and their co- investigators with the conceptual and methodical aspects of the protocol concerning hormonal assessment and interpretation of menstrual cycle phase and post menopausal status and hormonal effects on GI symptoms, brain-gut microbiome, and gut transit. I will participate in the analysis and interpretation of all data and preparation and presentation of abstracts, manuscripts and reports. Given my clinical investigative experience working with this field, I believe I am well-equipped to be a significant contributor of the proposed research.
Publications
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/1r534_s8lyeQb/bibliography/40455311/public/
Shlomo Raz, MD
Professor, Department of Surgery Division of Urology, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA
Shlomo Raz, M.D. joined UCLA in 1975 and oversees the Division of Female Urology, Reconstructive Surgery and Urodynamics. Dr. Raz has been a recognized leader in developing new treatments for female urology conditions for over 28 years. Dr. Raz pioneered many of the innovations that today are the standards of care worldwide for such conditions as vaginal and uterine prolapse, urinary incontinence, pelvic floor disorders, voiding dysfunction, and surgical reconstruction after cancer for urethral abnormalities.
During the past 28 years at UCLA, Dr. Raz has been committed to the highest standard of care of patients with urologic conditions affecting the lower urinary tract. He is a definite authority and one of the most prominent physicians in the field of female urology and urologic reconstructive surgery. With his numerous surgical innovations, as well as his involvement in the development of new pharmacological and surgical treatments of urologic conditions, Dr. Raz has helped define the field of female urology and reconstruction for the past two decades. He is author of more than 170 peer reviewed publications, and is author and chief editor of some of the most important texts and surgical atlases used throughout the world to train physicians in female urology and reconstructive surgery.
Sang Hoon Rhee, PhD
Adjunct Associate Professor, Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Rhee’s research focuses on studying roles of host-microbial interaction in the gastrointestinal tract. Specifically, the lab has been investigating the function of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) which is a family of pattern recognition receptor recognizing microbial products to elicit inflammatory and innate immune responses. Recently, Dr. Rhee demonstrated that TLR5 is associated with the development and progress of inflammatory bowel diseases. Moreover, Dr. Rhee’s studies also showed that TLR5 plays an important role to elicit innate immunity to regulate anti-tumor activity. Studies to be presented will include a role of TLR5 in regulating colon cancer and a potential mechanism to modulate anti-tumor activity against colonic tumor. This research program has a record of continuous support from the NIH/NIDDK, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute at both UCLA and Harvard Medical School.
Larissa Rodriguez, MD
Professor of Urology; Director, USC Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive; Surgery, Beverly Hills; Vice Chair, Academics; Director, FPMRS Fellowship at USC
Dr. Rodríguez is an established surgeon-scientist with extensive expertise in the field of female pelvic and reconstructive surgery (FPMRS) in urology. Dr. Rodríguez is nationally and internationally recognized for her work in the field of stem cell research and tissue engineering.
An awarded researcher, Dr. Rodríguez has developed patented techniques and innovative surgical strategies to provide treatment in areas such as stress incontinence and reconstruction of the bladder and lower urinary tract. Another focus of her research has been the study of the etiology and treatment of urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse, in which she is active in clinical research and outcomes research as they relate to treatment in these areas.
Michael Ross, MD, MPH
Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Public Health; Vice Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology, UCLA
Dr. Michael Ross, M.D., MPH is a Founder of Cervilenz, Inc. in 2008, and serves as its Medical Director. Dr. Ross serves as the Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California. He has been Member of Clinical Advisory Board for MERIDIAN(TM) Line of Non-Invasive Fetal Heart Rate Monitors at MindChild Medical, Inc. since February 2012. Dr. Ross serves as Vice Chair of Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at
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David Shapiro, PhD
Professor Emeritus, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA
David Shapiro is a psychologist with special interests and research experience in psyhophysiology and health psychology. He directs the Psychophysiology Laboratory in the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. He was appointed Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences in the School of Medicine in 1974 and has also been a member of the Department of Psychology in Arts and Sciences,and he became Professor Emeritus in 1994. From 1953 to 1974 he was on the faculty of Harvard University in the Departments of Psychology and Social Relations and in Psychiatry. His publications include basic research and clinical applications of biofeedback and self-regulation, social and emotional processes affecting cardiovascular regulation and risk for hypertension, psychological factors in smoking. and the psychological benefits of yoga. He has served as Editor of the journal Psychophysiology and on the editoral board of other journals. His research has been honored by the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Society of Behavioral Medicine, and the Society of Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeeback.
Kalyanam Shivkumar, MD, PhD
Director, UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center; Professor, Department of Medicine Radiology, UCLA
Dr. Shivkumar received his medical degree from the University of Madras, India in 1991 and his PhD from UCLA in 2000. He completed his cardiology fellowship training at the University of California, Los Angeles, and upon completion of his training joined the faculty at University of Iowa, where he also served as the Associate Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology.
In 2002, he was recruited back to UCLA to direct the newly created UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. His field of specialization is interventional cardiac electrophysiology and he heads a group at UCLA that is involved in developing innovative techniques for the non-pharmacological management of cardiac arrhythmias.
He is currently Professor of Medicine and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Radiology at UCLA.
Dr. Shivkumar is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in the subspecialties of Cardiovascular Disease and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology.
He holds memberships in several professional organizations, including the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology and the Heart Rhythm Society.
Igor Spigelman, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Oral Biology and Medicine, UCLA
Dr. Igor Spigelman joined the faculty at the UCLA School of Dentistry in 1991. He contributes to teaching in the dental school curriculum and in graduate school courses including the interdepartmental Neuroscience Graduate Program. His research on the mechanisms of chronic pain and alcohol addiction resulted in numerous publications and two patents.
Catia Sternini, MD
Professor, Department of Medicine Digestive Diseases/Gastroenterology, Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA
The “Brain in the Gut” and Taste Receptors
My research program is concerned with the neuronal circuits that control gastrointestinal motility and the mechanisms that govern receptor-mediated responses in the enteric nervous system, the “brain in the gut”, and with chemosensing in the gastrointestinal tract. Currently, the main lines of my research include: (1) trafficking and signaling of G protein-coupled receptors induced by physiological and pathophysiological events with an emphasis on µ opioid receptor, the target of opioid analgesics used for pain control, which mediates opioid bowel syndrome and tolerance, and (2) role of taste signaling molecules in the regulation of gastrointestinal functions and feeding behavior. My group was the first to demonstrate that opioids differing in their ability to induce tolerance also differ in their efficiency to induce µOR trafficking, a process that regulates receptor signaling and function. The findings of ligand-selective and stimulation-dependent µOR internalization in enteric neurons are of importance for understanding the mechanisms underlying intracellular adaptations induced by prolonged activation of µORs, which hamper the use of opioids as analgesics. Furthermore, we have shown that µOR activation exerts a protective effect on acute intestinal inflammation through cytokine and NF-KB modulation. Another focus of my research is on the role of taste signaling molecules as chemosensory receptors in the gut mucosa, which are likely to modulate gut function and food intake through the release of signaling molecules by enteroendocrine cells, with emphasis on bitter taste receptors, a putative side of defense from potentially toxic substances, drugs and pathogens. The recent discovery that taste receptors for sweet and bitter are expressed throughout the body and not only in the tongue has given rise to the concept of a broader role for these receptors beyond “taste”. My lab has shown that taste signaling molecules are expressed by distinct populations of mucosal cells, including enteroendocrine cells, which synthesize peptides affecting motility, secretion, satiety and hunger, and that bitter taste receptors are regulated by feeding and different diets, suggesting they participate in the functional detection of intraluminal content and they serve as regulators of diet-induced responses by detecting changes in the microbiota.
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Yvette Tache, PhD
Co-Director, UCLA Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress; Director, Cure: Animal Models Core; Professor, Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Yvette Taché is a recognized leading expert in brain-gut interactions and the role of peptides in the underlying mechanisms of stress-related gut dysfunction. She and her research team reported some of the pioneer work on the central actions of peptides to influence digestive function and feeding behavior. Her laboratory provided the preclinical ground work showing potential benefit of blocking corticotropin releasing signaling pathways in experimental models of irritable bowel syndrome.
Dr. Taché joined the Digestive Disease Division in 1982 and as been appointed Professor-in Residence in 1987. Professor Taché developed this field of research through continued competitive grants obtained from the National Institute of Health (NIH) since 1982 as well as Veteran Administration (VA) Merit Award since 2000. She is Director of the Animal core within the Digestive Disease Center and a co-Director of the UCLA Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress. She published 370 peer-reviewed articles articles and 160 reviews and edited several books. Professor Taché has been the recipients of NIH MERIT Award, the Distinguished Research Award in Gastrointestinal Physiology from the American Physiological Society, the Janssen Award for Basic Research in Gastrointestinal Motility, the Senior Investigator–Basic Science Award from the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders, the Research Scientist Award from the Functional Brain-Gut Research Group, the Outstanding American Gastroenterology Association Women in Sciences , the Research Mentor Award, AGA Institute Council Neurogastroenterology & Motility Section and senior VA Research Career Scientist Award. She served on NIH and VA Administration grant application review panels and editorial boards of many peptides, integrative physiology and stress-related journal and is an associated editor of PLoS One.
Kirsten Tillisch, MD
Director, Mind Body Research Program, G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience; Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Kirsten Tillisch completed her undergraduate work at the Otis Institute of Parsons School of Design, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honors. She obtained her medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and was elected to the medical honor society Alpha Omega Alpha. She continued on at UCLA to complete her training in internal medicine and gastroenterology, graduating in 2003. Her clinical interests are functional bowel disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, and cyclic vomiting syndrome. Her research interests include brain-gut interactions , the effects of nonpharmacological therapies on functional gastrointestinal disorders, and pharmacological treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. Her recent research projects include defining resting state brain dysfunction in irritable bowel syndrome patients, evaluating the role of gut microbiota modulation on emotional processing in the brain, and assessment of neurokinin-1 receptor antagonists effects on the gut and brain in irritable bowel syndrome. She is a member of the Neuroimaging Program of the Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer Family Center for Neurobiology of Stress.
Selected References:
Mayer EA, Tillisch K, Gupta A. Gut/brain axis and the microbiota. J Clin Invest. 2015 Mar 2;125(3):926-38. doi: 10.1172/JCI76304. Epub 2015 Feb 17. Review. PubMed PMID: 25689247; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4362231.
Mayer EA, Knight R, Mazmanian SK, Cryan JF, Tillisch K. Gut microbes and the brain: paradigm shift in neuroscience. J Neurosci. 2014 Nov 12;34(46):15490-6. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3299-14.2014. Review. PubMed PMID: 25392516; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4228144.
Mayer EA, Padua D, Tillisch K. Altered brain-gut axis in autism: comorbidity or causative mechanisms? Bioessays. 2014 Oct;36(10):933-9. doi: 10.1002/bies.201400075. Epub 2014 Aug 22. Review. PubMed PMID: 25145752.
Tillisch K, Labus JS. Neuroimaging the microbiome-gut-brain axis. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2014;817:405-16. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-0897-4_18. Review. PubMed PMID: 24997044.
Tillisch K. The effects of gut microbiota on CNS function in humans. Gut Microbes. 2014 May-Jun;5(3):404-10. doi: 10.4161/gmic.29232. Epub 2014 May 16. Review. PubMed PMID: 24838095; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4153780.
Tillisch K, Labus J, Kilpatrick L, Jiang Z, Stains J, Ebrat B, Guyonnet D, Legrain-Raspaud S, Trotin B, Naliboff B, Mayer EA. Consumption of fermented milk product with probiotic modulates brain activity. Gastroenterology. 2013 Jun;144(7):1394-401, 1401.e1-4. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2013.02.043. Epub 2013 Mar 6. PubMed PMID: 23474283; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3839572.
Jennie Tsao, PhD
Director of Pediatric Pain Research; Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics, UCLA
Dr. Jennie C. I. Tsao completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at UCLA and is currently a Professor of Pediatrics in the UCLA Children’s Pain & Comfort Care Program. Dr. Tsao’s research interests center on the relationships among pain, anxiety, and health outcomes, including pain-related functioning and utilization of conventional and complementary/alternative healthcare. Dr. Tsao’s research is particularly focused on the laboratory pain models in relation to acute and chronic/recurrent pain, as well as on parent-child pain relationships.
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Hong Yang, MD, PhD
Researcher Physiologist, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Hong Yang is a physiologist who has served on the UCLA School of Medicine since she joined the Department of Medicine in 1987. She became a full Researcher in 2002 and is a member of Brain Research Institute, Center for Ulcer Research and Education: Digestive Diseases Research Center and Center for Neurovisceral Sciences & Women’s Health. Dr. Yang earned her M.D and Ph.D. in Physiology at Beijing Medical University in China. She was a postdoctoral fellow, an Assistant Researcher and Associate Researcher at the Department of Medicine, UCLA where she worked on Brain-Gut Interactions. Dr. Yang’s research focuses on the medullary mechanism of autonomic disorders in metabolic diseases. She is the principal investigator of NIH and Department of Veterans Affairs funded grants for investigating the medullary mechanism of hypothyroidism-induced autonomic disorders. She is also a reviewer for multiple scientific journals including Am J Physiol (E,G,R), Metabolism and J Physiol, as well as an ad hoc grant reviewer for American Diabetes Association, the Department of Veterans Affairs and NIH/HIDDK.