PASSION FOR TUTORING:

The enjoyment of teaching medical science clearly, in context and as evolving stories of discovery has been a common theme throughout my academic scientific career as a PhD research neuroscientist and electrophysiologist working primarily in academic clinical departments of neurology, and more recently within the biotech industry.
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TUTORING & TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

Throughout my career I have had rewarding opportunities to teach graduate students, medical students, interns, and residents, primarily in small group seminar courses, as well as one-on-one with undergraduate and high school students.

1. Taught medical school basic and advanced cellular and molecular neuroscience, and medical neuroscience.

2. Taught graduate school ion channel screening technology for drug-induced cardiotoxicity.

3. Tutored undergraduate students leading to Biophysical Society Meeting student presentations.

4. Mentored high school students in the University of Maryland-Baltimore City Public High School Summer Research Program and at UT Health San Antonio; later leading to multiple junior science awards and an invitation to present at the 2016 White House Science Fair.
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TEACHING PHILOSOPHY & TURORING STYLE:

1. I believe that tutoring requires individualizing tutoring sessions, guiding with patience, and establishing a supportive environment in which to encourage and challenge.

2. I believe that the trajectory for achieving academic goals entails one's own motivation, initiative, and determination, together with strategic mentoring and guidance. My aim is to motivate and help students navigate different stages in their education.

3. My aim is to help students grasp complex neurophysiology and electrophysiology concepts without getting bogged down in advanced technical details until they are ready or interested.

4. I value of historical perspective in science education, not only as an established means of providing scientific context for emerging knowledge and to further scientific discussion, but also as means to mitigate rediscovery in science.
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EDUCATION, PROFESSIONAL TRAINING & EMPLOYEMNT:

My neuroscience education began as an undergraduate at the University of California at Berkeley where I designed my Individual Undergraduate Major in neuroscience before one was established at UC Berkeley.

I received my doctoral degree from Northwestern University in the Interdepartmental Program in Neuroscience (Thesis studies: Department of Pharmacology, Chicago Campus).

As a highly skilled cellular and molecular neuroscientist and electrophysiologist, I spent 3 decades working in both academia and the biotech industry as a research scientist, laboratory director and program leader.

I have had broad-based research experience at state and private university medical schools in both the United States and the United Kingdom, at a US federal government research laboratory, as well as at an international biotech company.

Postdoctoral Fellowships:
1. Department of Neurology, Guy's Campus, United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals (now King's College London School of Medicine), London, UK
2. Department of Neurology, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA
3. Department of Physiology, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, National Naval Medical Center (now Walter Reed National Military Medical Center), Bethesda, MD
4. Department Neurology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

Faculty Appointments:
1. Department of Neurology and Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
2. Neurology Service and Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence-East, VA Maryland Health Care System (now Baltimore VA Medical Center), Baltimore, MD
3. High Throughput Screening Facility/Center for Innovative Drug Development, Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX.
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DEGREES:

Doctorate in Neuroscience from Northwestern University

Baccalaureate in Neuro-Psycho-Physiology from the University of California at Berkeley
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SUBJECTS:

Neuroscience; Neurophysiology; Neurobiology; Neuroimmunolgy; Electrophysiology; Ion channel physiology; New drug cardiotoxicity screening in cardiac ion channels.
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SUBJECT EXPERTISE:

My areas of subject expertise reflect careerlong science and research interests in nervous and immune system ion channels as therapeutic targets in neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases.

With over 3 decades of employing concepts and methodologies from biophysics, pharmacology, physiology, immunology, and molecular biology to the study of ion channel function in neurologic diseases, I have a deep knowledge base and broad-based technical electrophysiology expertise.

I have built conventional patch clamp laboratories, and an automated patch clamp laboratory for drug screening.

I have authored data, review, and expert opinion papers.

1. Ion channel proteins: Biophysics; Pharmacology and toxicology; Molecular structure-function relationships; Molecular drug/toxin-ion channel interactions; Cloning and mutagenesis of ion channels.

2. Functional role of ion channels in disease and dysfunction.

3. Voltage clamp electrophysiology recording techniques:
- Patch clamp techniques in single cells (whole cell vs single channel; manual vs automated).
- Two-electrode and extracellular double gap (sucrose-gap).

4. FDA Comprehensive in vitro Proarrhythmia Assay (CiPA) Guidelines: Current preclinical cardiac toxicity screening guidelines (ICH S7B) for testing new drugs in cardiac ion channels.