Uel Jackson McMahan

Professor of Neurobiology and of Structural Biology, Emeritus

Academic Appointments

Emeritus Faculty, Acad Council, Neurobiology
Member, Bio-X
Member, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute

Administrative Appointments

Director, Neurosciences Program (1986 - 1991)
Chairman, Department of Neurobiology (1987 - 1992)
Chairman, Committee on Graduate Studies (1989 - 1990)
Member, Administrative Panel for Laboratory Animal Care (APLAC) (1999 - 2005)
Member, Appointments and Promotions (A&P) Committee, School of Medicine (2005 - 2008)

Honors & Awards

Prix (Plasticite Neuronale): shared with G. Fischbach (Harvard) and H.Betz (MPI, Frankfurt), Fondation IPSEN/Fondation de France (1998)
Alumni Achievement Award, Westminster College, Fulton, MO (1996)
Jacob Javits Neurosciences Investigator Award, NIH (1991-1998)
Jacob Javits Neurosciences Investigator Award, NIH (1984-1991)
Research Career Development Award, NIH (1973-1977)

Professional Education

B.A., Westminster College, Fulton, MO, Biology (1960)
Ph.D., U Tennessee Med Units, Memphis,TN, Anatomy (1964)

Community and International Work

Visiting Lecture Team Program, Economically underdeveloped nations

Topic

Director

Partnering Organization(s)

International Brain Research Organization

Populations Served

Graduate and medical students, medical residents, junior faculty, and advanced undergraduates

Location

International

Ongoing Project

true

Opportunities for Student Involvement

false

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

We use three-dimensional reconstructions of tissue sections generated by electron microscope tomography to study the organization and behavior of macromolecules at the nervous systems synapses. The information we obtain provides insights unobtainable in any other way about the molecular mechanisms involved in synaptic impulse transmission and the sequence of steps in synapse formation. To augment our studies we are developing methods for localizing known proteins to specific macromolecules observed by tomography and for the quantitative analysis of tomographic data, technologies that can be applied to the investigation of macromolecules in any tissue.

All Publications

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