Member SpotlightsStudies in Neuronal Cell Interactions Jane Johnston, Ph.D. A Science Advisory Board Member since 2002  Jane Johnston, Ph.D., is a Principal Investigator at City University of New York, where she teaches pharmacology and physiology and conducts neuroscience research. Johnston received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from St Mary's Hospital Medical School, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London UK. Academic Background My PhD. is in biochemistry where I studied the role of dopamine D2 receptors in pituitary tumors and went on to a postdoctoral fellowship studying dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease at the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA. Achievements It's always nice to hear from former students and feel that I was part of their success. I have awards for student mentoring (CUNY Star award) and research. I have been invited to chair grant panels and review manuscripts, including the following: Reviewer - Alzheimer's Association Research Grants (from 1999) Member - Society for Neuroscience (from 1993) Member - Biotechnology Council of New Jersey Research Interests & Motivations At the City University of New York , I teach pharmacology and physiology during the Fall and Spring semesters and devote my summers to research. My research focuses on understanding neuronal-cell interactions with the overall goal to one day make neural cell transplantation a feasible therapy for neurodegenerative disorders. Specifically, I have been studying the intercellular regulation of neural cell survival in vitro using cell culture models and cells isolated from wild type and rodent models of neurodegeneration, including transgenic models of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. During my undergraduate studies I took a year out of university and spent it at the Food Research Institute in Norwich, UK where I got hands-on experience in research. Until then I had no idea what I would do with my Biological Sciences degree. That year was very rewarding -- I thoroughly enjoyed the experience as well as published my first paper. I was hooked on research and soon found an interesting program to pursue. Career Expectations I always wanted to be an academic scientist so I'm on track with that. But I had always thought that I would go back to England, so I'm surprised to find that I'm still on the East Coast after all of these years. I would like to see more funding for neurodegenerative research and see disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease being cured, and I hope that my research will have contributed in some way to this. If you'd like to comment on this article, or join in discussion on other topics with SAB members, please visit our community forums. Publications Mills ECN, Johnston JM, Kemp HA and Morgan MRA (1988) An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diacetoxyscirpenol applied to the analysis of wheat. Journal of Food Science and Agriculture 42, 225 – 233. Wood DF, Johnston JM and Johnston DG (1991) Dopamine, dopamine D2 receptors and pituitary tumors. Clinical Endocrinology 35, 455 – 466. Elder GA, Tezapsidis N, Carter J, Shioi J, Bouras C, Li HC, Johnston JM, Efthimiopolous S, Friedrich VL and Robakis NK (1996) Identification and neuron specific expression of the S182/presenilin 1 protein in human and rodent brains. Journal of Neuroscience Research 45, 308 – 320. Peaire AE, Takeshima T, Johnston JM, Isoe K, Nakashima K and Commissiong JW. (2003) Production of dopaminergic neurons for cell therapy in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. J Neuroscience Methods 30,124, 61 - 74. Fewlass DC, Noboa K, Pi-Sunyer FX, Johnston JM,Yan SD and Tezapsidis N (2004) Obesity-related leptin regulates Alzheimer's A. FASEB J 18, 1870-1878. Johnston JM, Burnett P, Thomas AP and Tezapsidis N (2006) Calcium oscillations in type-1 astrocytes, effect of a presenilin 1 (PS) mutation. Neuroscience letters 395, 159-164. ### << Previous Next >> [ View All Member Spotlights ] |
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