Our goal is to understand N-Methyl-D- Aspartate
receptor (NMDAR) signaling via nitric oxide and mechanisms of glucose
transporter 3 trafficking. I received basic training in Biochemistry at Albert
Einstein School of Medicine under the mentorship of Dr. Ian Willis. During my
postdoctoral stint at NYU School, I study NMDAR mutants and excitotoxicity
with Dr. Edward Ziff. The discoveries lead to my studies of phosphorylation
of nNOS. At Johns Hopkins, I began the study on NMDAR
mediated regulation of surface GLUT3. Despite significant progress in our understanding of
membrane trafficking in general, very little is known about the secretory and endocytic
trafficking of GLUT3 in neuronal dendrites and at synapses. Our work begins to
characterize the role of NO in the mechanism by which NMDAR regulates the
expression of surface GLUT3 and glucose transport, a molecular correlate of
cellular viability.