Louisiana Tech Biomedical Engineering-DeCoster Lab

Cellular Neuroscience Lab                

Laboratory: Principal Investigator, Mark A. DeCoster, Ph.D. Associate Professor (Tenured). James E. Wyche III Endowed Professor of Engineering

February 2012

Our Lab is focussed on Cellular Neuroscience. Below are some current and past personnel.


Lab Students and Postdoctoral Fellow:

February 2012
  • Dr. Jamie Newman, postdoctoral fellow. Neural stem cells.
  • Kinsey Cotton, Ph.D. student. Signal transduction in brain cells.
  • Bharat Karumuri, Master's Student.  Study of Inflammatory action on Astrocytes. 
  • Vivek Dutta, Master's Student.  Cellular imaing & Image analysis.
  • Chaitanya Joshi, Master's Student.  Development of automated cell analysis/ cell shape changes. 
  • Sneha Deodhar, Master's Student.  Development of novel nanomaterials for biological applications. 
  • Jessica Wasserman, Ph.D. student.  Biocompatibility of 2 dimensional matrices for brain cell growth.
  • Charuta Ulhas Agashe, Master's Student.  Application of 3D systems for studying cancer drug treatment.
  • Manish Pawar, Master's Student. Application of 3D systems for studying modulation by neurotransmitters.
  • Alumni:
  • Dr. James McNamara, Ph.D.. Currently Postdoctoral Fellow at Louisiana Tech. Biological interaction with nanomaterials. Graduated, May 2011.
  • Dr. Senaka Kanakamedala, Ph.D.   Microdevices, micromixing, enzyme-biosensor detection. Graduated, November 2011.
  • Haidar Alshakhouri, Master's Student, Molecular Sciences and Nanotechnology (MSNT). Development of biosensors for brain cells. Graduated, May 2011.
  • Michelle Sibille, ALUMNUS!: Currently enrolled at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.   Nano and micropatterns for brain cell growth and repair.  Was supported by NASA-LURA grant.
  • Dustin Green, Master's student, Biology, ALUMNUS!.  Nanopatterning for attachment and differentiation of neuronal cell lines.  Was an NSF GK-12 fellow and also supported by an ANS mini-grant.
  • Si Chen, Master's student, ALUMNUS!.  2D and 3D matrices for tissue engineering of brain cells. 
  • Richard Davis, Master's student, ALUMNUS!.  Currently enrolled in MEDICAL SCHOOL at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, Louisiana.
  • Chitra Jeyasankar, Master's student, ALUMNUS! Graduated Nov. 2010.  Agonist Induced Calcium Signaling in Rat Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells.   
  • Sowgandhi Maddi, Master's student, ALUMNUS! Graduated Nov. 2010.  Cell methods for apoptosis.   
  • Ruturaj Masvekar, Master's student.ALUMNUS! Currently enrolled at the Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Medicine.   Inflammatory responses in brain cells. 
  • Enkhjin Bayarsaikhan, Undergrad.  Image Analysis Apoptosis.  Was supported by an NIH-LBRN grant in collaboration with Dr. Andrei Paun.
  • Kris Chain, Undergrad.  Image Analysis Apoptosis.  Was supported by an NIH-LBRN grant in collaboration with Dr. Andrei Paun. 

Summer High School Teacher Program:

  •   Chris Campbell,   Simsboro High School Science Teacher, 2007 & 2008.
  •   Version 1b.2012 (M. DeCoster). Original Web design created with the assistance of Dustin Green. Previous Authors: M.A. DeCoster; B. Karumuri.

         

           

        latechlogo