Kevin Wickman, PhD

Research in the Wickman lab centers on mechanisms controlling the excitability of cells in the heart and brain. Dysregulation of cell excitability contributes to many debilitating and/or life-threatening medical conditions, including cardiac arrhythmias, epilepsy, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, Down Syndrome, addiction, and pain. The Wickman lab seeks to obtain detailed understanding of molecular mechanisms that regulate cell excitability, so that safer and more effective strategies to treat these medical problems can be envisioned and developed. Investigators in the Wickman lab are currently using approaches in electrophysiology, neuromodulation, genetic manipulation, intracranial pharmacology, cardiac physiology, and behavioral assessments relevant to addiction, anxiety, learning, and pain to understand the physiological and pathophysiological relevance of inhibitory signaling pathways.