MENDELOWITZ LAB
Washington, D.C.
Team Name:
MENDELOWITZ LAB
Team Leader Name:
David Mendelowitz, Ph.D.
Location:
Washington, D.C.
Approach:
Oxytocin
Organization/Affiliation:
George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Link:
Team Leader Bio:
Dr. Mendelowitz received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, his Doctoral degree from the University of Washington, and received Post Graduate Training at the Baylor College of Medicine. He is currently a professor (with tenure) and Vice Chair, Department of Pharmacology & Physiology at George Washington University. His research career is focused on the autonomic and respiratory control of brainstem cardiovascular function in both normal physiological homeostasis as well as alterations that occur to initiate and/or sustain cardiorespiratory diseases. In particular his lab studies the cellular properties and neuronal network and reflex control of pre-motor parasympathetic cardio-inhibitory vagal neurons located in the nucleus ambiguus in the brainstem. The activity of these cardiac vagal neurons dominates the neural control of heart rate, yet despite their clinical importance we have only begun to fully understand the transmitters and integration of complex synaptic pathways from other brain sites that control these critical specialized neurons and the parasympathetic control of heart rate in both healthy and diseased states.