Dr. Gerry Oxford received his B.A. (cum laude) from Elon College, and the Ph.D. in Physiology from Emory University in 1974. In 1974, after Postdoctoral training in Pharmacology at Duke University, he joined the UNC faculty, and was promoted to Professor in 1982. In 1989, he was selected as the Director of UNC's Neurobiology Curriculum.
Dr. Oxford has served as a member of the NIH Physiology Study Section and the NIH Reviewer's Reserve, and has been a consultant for numerous NIH ad hoc review groups as well as several private corporations. He is on the editorial boards of The Journal of General Physiology. Endocrine Reviews, Molecular Pharmacology, and is an ad hoc reviewer for nearly two dozen other journals. Currently, he is President-Elect of the Society of General Physiologists, the primary professional society representing research on the physiology and biophysics of ion channels.
Dr. Oxford has been engaged in single cell electrophysiological studies for over twenty years, receiving continuous NIH support for nearly two decades. His work has included invertebrate giant axon preparations and a wide variety of dissociated and cultured avian and mammalian cells. In 1982 his laboratory was the first in the Southeast to establish the patch clamp recording technique. Since that time they have investigated the behavior of voltage-gated sodium, potassium,. and calcium channels and G-protein coupled ion channels primarily in endocrine and neuronal cells. Their research focuses on the mechanisms of channel gating and of modulation of channel behavior by second messenger systems. In addition to its active research, the lab has become a regional resource for training in patch clamp techniques and for refinements and technical developments, particularly related to recording from single cells. Presently, the laboratory has three central projects: (1) mechanisms coupling dopamine D2 receptors to K channels in pituitary lactotrophs, (2) mechanisms of activation and desensitization of capsaicin activated channels in rat DRG neurons, and (3) modulation of voltage-gated ion channels in rat medial habenular neurons by cGMP/cAMP pathways. The lab's technical repertoire includes not only electrophysiology, but also microimmunological methods for the optical imaging and quantification of peptide secretion from single endocrine and nerve cells.
Dr. Oxford works closely with Dr. Tropsha at the UNC School of Pharmacy.
Dr. Oxford's publications
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