Eduardo Rosa-Molinar, PhD, who develops and applies novel microscopy approaches to the study of neuronal connections that allow brain cells to communicate, has been named the new scientific director of the Washington University Center for Cellular Imaging (WUCCI) and has joined the faculty of the Department of Cell Biology & Physiology and the Department of Neuroscience at the School of Medicine. His appointment began July 1.
(Photo: Marta Wegorzewska)
Brain cells communicate to one another across synapses – small gaps between cells that allow chemical and electrical messages to pass from one neuron to the next. Rosa-Molinar studies the proteins in the cell membrane of brain cells that act as channels through which signals pass into the synapse. He joins Washington University from the University of Kansas, where he was a professor of pharmacology & toxicology, of neuroscience and of bioengineering and the director of the Microscopy and Analytical Imaging Research Resource Core Laboratory.