Welcome to the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Stony Brook University.

The Department of Neurobiology currently has 18 faculty with substantial research strengths in neural development, circuit function, computation, cellular communication through receptors, channels and synapses and neurological and psychiatric diseases. Total research grant funding for the primary faculty of $6.8 million dollars was received in FY 2008. Under the direction of Dr. Lorna Role, who arrived as Chair in April 2008, the department looks forward to continued growth, expansion and innovation. » more

Welcome to…
- New grad students » more

- New Faculty: Alfredo Fontanini, Shaoyu Ge, and Arianna Maffei

- New Employees:
Richard Davila (Mendell), Lang Wang (Maffei), Stephen D'Amico (Collins)

Congratulations to...
Alfredo Fontanini, upon receiving a Klingenstein Fellowship Award

Dr. Sherrye Glaser who co-authored a paper appearing in PNAS. » more

Gary Matthews upon receiving the Sixth Annual Katz Award. » more

Gary Matthews, for his reappointment to a 3 year term on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Neurophysiology

Alfredo Fontanini, chair and speaker at the 2009 Winter Conference on Brain Research
» more

Arianna Maffei, chair and speaker at the 2009 Winter Conference on Brain Research » more

Lorne Mendell, for his reappointment to a 3 year term on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Neurophysiology

Lorna Role, for her promotion to Fellow status in the ACNP » more

Research Scientists Yachi Chen and Malcolm Nason in the Role/Talmage labs, for receiving Young Investigator Awards from NARSAD

Sarah Canetta (doctoral student) in the Role/Talmage labs, has been awarded a TRANSFORM Award from Columbia University

Applause for...

Eugene Lee (Ph.D. 2007 with Maurice Kernan) for having part of her thesis work published in Current Biology.

Alumnus Raymond Habas (Ph.D. 1988 with Simon Halegoua) for receiving an Early Career Award (PECASE)

Introducing...
our new department
chairperson, Dr. Lorna Role (PhD, Harvard). Dr. Role holds numerous grants and awards and comes to us from Columbia University.  Her research focuses on central cholinergic systems that have been implicated in disorders of memory, mood and motivation, and her work has implications for studies of schizophrenia, depression and Alzheimer's dementia.

Lab Spotlight...
Members of the Role and Talmage Laboratories are interested in the molecular underpinnings of synapses and circuits. We study how synapses form, how they are maintained and modified by activity, experience and injury. The laboratories work to together to further our efforts through interdisciplinary in vitro and in vivo approaches. We examine the  structure, function and components of  CNS synapses using  combined molecular, electrophysiological and behavioral techniques in genetically modified mice.  The work is focused on circuits related to natural reward, sensory gating and attention with the long range goal of better understanding of pathways commonly affected in Neuro-psychiatirc disorders. Current work probes the molecular mechanisms and functional role of Neuregulin 1- (Nrg 1) - erb signaling and the contribution of a7 type nicotinic AChRs in circuits related to motivation and reward.  Genes encoding Nrg1, Erb B and alpha7 nAChRs have all been implicated as susceptibility genes for Schizophrenia.