Galvan/Wichmann Lab

Lead scientist, Project 2: Parkinsonism-Related Changes in Activity of Cortical Projection Neurons
Director, Core B: Research Services Core

Adriana Galvan received her PhD in Neurosciences from the Center of Research and Advanced Studies, National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico City, Mexico. She joined the labs of Drs. Smith and Wichmann in 2000, as a post-doc fellow, to study localization and functions of GABA receptors in monkeys. In 2009 she joined the Department of Neurology as junior faculty member.  Her research focuses on understanding neural transmission in the basal ganglia, both in normal and pathological conditions, using a variety of in vivo methodologies that include extracellular electrophysiological recordings, electrical stimulation, intracerebral microinjections, microdialysis and optogenetic technique.

Director of the Emory Udall Center
Key scientist, Project 2: Parkinsonism-Related Changes in Activity of Cortical Projection Neurons

Dr. Wichmann attended medical school in Freiburg (Germany) and received his medical degree in 1984.  This was followed by postdoctoral medical and research training in Germany and at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD), and internship and Neurology residency training at Emory University (Atlanta, GA).  He has been a member of the movement disorder division in the Dept. of Neurology at Emory University since 1996.  He is currently a Professor of Neurology, and serves as the Associate Director of the movement disorder clinic at Emory.  His research focuses on electrophysiological and morphological changes in Parkinson’s disease, with the aim of developing new pharmacological or surgical interventions to help parkinsonian patients.

Charlotte Armstrong graduated in 2016 with a BS degree in Animal Science and a minor in Chemistry from Berry College and is an AALAS-registered Laboratory Animal Technician. She has worked in many areas across the animal field with extensive experience in animal husbandry and handling of domesticated, exotic and laboratory species. In 2019, she started working at the CDC as an Animal Care Technician with primates. She has a background as a Veterinary Technician and with the use of operant conditioning training techniques. She joined the Wichmann/Galvan lab in June 2023 as a Research Specialist.

Vanessa Barragan received her BA in Psychology from California State University, Fullerton. During her time as an undergraduate, she studied differences in adolescent learning patterns depending on cultural practices. In subsequent work, funded through a MARC fellowship, she studied the effect of diet on memory in rodents. During a virtual summer research program at UC San Diego, she briefly assessed in vivo electrophysiological recordings of single cells and local field potentials in the dentate gyrus of rats as they performed a novel spatial delayed-match-to-sample task. Vanessa joined the labs of Dr. Galvan and Dr. Smith as an Emory Neuroscience PhD student in 2023. Her work is, in part, funded by NSF and her project focuses on motivation-modulated neurons in the subthalamic nucleus, with the aim to understand how these cells and their potential involvement in limbic circuits play a role in non-motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Xing Hu received an MD degree from Jiao Tong University (Shanghai, China). She followed with residency training at RenJi Hospital, as well as workkng as an Assistant Professor in Gerontology (Department Medicine). She came to the US in 2000, first working as a research lab trainee in an FDA laboratory in Mobile, AL, and later in research laboratories at Emory University in the Department of Pathology and Morehouse University's Microarray Core Facility, Cardiovascular Research Institute. She joined the Galvan-Wichmann lab as a highly-skilled research specialist in 2006. She is experienced with electrophysiology, as well as immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy.

Yuxian Ma attended medical school in Zhengzhou, China, and received an MD degree in 1985, followed by research training in the Department of Physiology at Harbin Medical University in China, as well as postdoctoral studies in the Department of Psychiatry at Emory University. She has extensive experience in electrophysiological brain recordings in rodents and monkeys. She joined the Galvan-Wichmann lab in 1999, and is currently a senior research technician.

Natalia Magnusson received her BS in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science from the University of Arizona. Her undergraduate research focused on the amygdala and its role in facilitating social and emotional behavior. She joined the Galvan-Wichmann laboratory as an Emory Neuroscience PhD student in 2023. Her current research in the lab seeks to understand the pathophysiology of some of the non-motor symptoms associated with the parkinsonian state, specifically the role of the zona incerta in affective dysfunction. Her work may not only provide insights into the brain processes that lead to affective disturbances, but may provide leads towards the development of novel therapies to treat them.

Anne-Caroline Martel received her PhD in neurosciences from Aix Marseille University, France, in December 2019. She joined the Galvan-Wichmann lab in February 2020 as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Her current research focus on the subthalamic nucleus, a key component of the basal ganglia circuit. The study aims to understand the temporal relationship between the emergence of Parkinson signs and the structural and functional integrity of the cortico- and pallido-subthalamic projections using functional and anatomic comparisons in motor asymptomatic and motor symptomatic MPTP-treated monkey. By employing optogenetic tools and in vivo electrophysiological recordings, she will assess responses of STN neurons to optogenetic activation of cortical and external pallidal inputs, as well as emerging changes in STN neuronal in normal and parkinsonian states. These studies are combined with postmortem light and EM and 3D-EM reconstructions using tissue from normal and parkinsonian monkeys, to assess the number, localization and ultrastructure of glutamatergic cortical terminals and GABAergic pallidal terminals in the STN.

Damien Pittard has an MS degree in Clinical Psychology from Capella University and is an AALAS-registered laboratory animal technician. He began working at Emory University in 2006 as an animal care technician at the Emory National Primate Research Center. He later joined the Wichmann lab in 2010 as an entry-level research specialist. He is experienced with behavioral assessments of the non-human primate PD model, calcium imaging and electrophysiology.

Benjamin Risk is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University. Dr. Risk received his BA in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology from Dartmouth College and his Master’s and PhD in Statistics from Cornell University. He completed his post doc in computational neuroscience at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute. He joined Emory in 2017. Dr. Risk develops statistical methods for cognitive neuroscience, brain connectivity, neuroimaging and neurological disorders. He has developed methods for analyzing brain activation and connectivity, with an emphasis on multivariate approaches and dimension reduction. He also studies the impacts of experimental design and image acquisition on measures of brain structure and function.