Eric Stauffer
Neuroscience Graduate Student
Department of Neuroscience
Education
B.S. Neuroscience, Lafayette College, 2002
I received my B.S. in Neuroscience from Lafayette College, where, as an undergraduate researcher, I used genetic and electrophysiological methods to test the efficacy of anticonvulsant drugs in a drosophila model of epilepsy. I am currently a PhD candidate in the Neuroscience Graduate Program at UVa. Under the direction of my advisor, Jeff Holt, I study mechanotransduction, the process by which the sensory hair cells of the inner ear convert mechanical movements into electrical signals. I move the hair bundles very small distances (<1 µm) and record the resulting mechanotransduction currents using the whole-cell technique. Specifically, I am examining the phenomenon of adaptation within these hair cells, whereby the magnitude of the mechanotransduction currents decrease over time in the presence of constant stimuli. Along with our collaborators, we have utilized chemical-genetic and electrophysiological methods to demonstrate that Myosoin Ic participates in adaptation in vestibular hair cells. My current work is focused on characterizing the properties of mechanotransduction and adaptation in auditory hair cells.
Contact information
Email: eas6v@virginia.edu
Lab: (434) 243-9499
Fax: (434) 982-4380
Mailing Address
University of Virginia
Department of Neuroscience
Box 801392
Charlottesville, VA 22908
Delivery Address
University of Virginia
409 Lane Rd
MR4 Building, Room 5126
Charlottesville, VA 22908
Holt / Géléoc Lab Home