Chair, Department of Physiology, Nathan Smith Davis Professor of Physiology, Professor in Physiology, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine
Biography
Dr. James Surmeier is the Nathan Smith Davis Professor and Chair of the Department of Physiology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and Director of the Morris K. Udall Research Center of Research Excellence for Parkinson's Disease at Northwestern University. Dr. Surmeier received his PhD in Physiology and Biophysics from the University of Washington in 1983. He trained with leaders in the field of neurophysiology, including Dr. Arnold Towe, Dr. William Willis and Dr. Stephen Kitai. In 1998, he moved to the Department of Physiology at Northwestern University and assumed his current position in 2001.
Dr. Surmeier's research program focuses on the ionic mechanisms underlying neural activity in the basal ganglia and their modulation by activation of G-protein coupled receptors, particularly those for dopamine. He has pioneered the application of modern patch clamp and single cell gene profiling approaches to understanding basal ganglia physiology, authoring over 100 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Science, Nature, Neuron, Nature Neuroscience and the Journal of Neuroscience.
Dr. Surmeier has served in several advisory capacities lo the National Institutes of Health, including chairing study sections for NINDS and acting as a Councilor for NIAAA. He also serves on the scientific advisory boards of the Hereditary Disease Foundation, Dystonia Foundation and the Tourette Syndrome Association and a number of editorial boards. He has received many scientific awards including the NARSAD Established Investigator award, the Riker Award, the Picower Foundation Award and the Jacob Javits Neurosciencc Investigator Award.
Dr. Surmeier's research program focuses on the ionic mechanisms underlying neural activity in the basal ganglia and their modulation by activation of G-protein coupled receptors, particularly those for dopamine. He has pioneered the application of modern patch clamp and single cell gene profiling approaches to understanding basal ganglia physiology, authoring over 100 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Science, Nature, Neuron, Nature Neuroscience and the Journal of Neuroscience.
Dr. Surmeier has served in several advisory capacities lo the National Institutes of Health, including chairing study sections for NINDS and acting as a Councilor for NIAAA. He also serves on the scientific advisory boards of the Hereditary Disease Foundation, Dystonia Foundation and the Tourette Syndrome Association and a number of editorial boards. He has received many scientific awards including the NARSAD Established Investigator award, the Riker Award, the Picower Foundation Award and the Jacob Javits Neurosciencc Investigator Award.
