University of Southern California
USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences  
 

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Donald Arnold

Associate Professor of Biological Sciences

Contact Information
E-mail: darnold@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 821-1266
Office: RRI 204B

 

Education

  • B.A. , University of Toronto, 1/1986
  • Ph.D. , Johns Hopkins University, 9/1992

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History

Tenure Track Appointments
  • Associate Professor, University of Southern California, 05/10/2007-  
  • Assistant Professor, University of Southern California, 10/01/1999-05/09/2007  
PostDoctoral Appointments
  • Post-Doctoral Fellow, Harvard University, 03/01/1997-09/30/1999  
  • Post-Doctoral Fellow, Rockefeller University, 09/01/1992-02/28/1997  

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests
Professor Arnold studies how ion channels are targeted to specific subcellular locations in neurons and how electrical activity can modulate that targeting. The physiological properties of a neuron are dependent not only on the properties of ion channels that they expresse, but also on their spatial distributions within that neuron. Little is known about how neurons maintain unique and often complex subcellular patterns of expression for each ion channel. Arnold uses biolistic transfection, confocal microscopy, cellular and molecular biology methods in his work on ion channels in neuron's synapse, axon and dendrite. His lab seeks to answer the following questions: What are the specific protein motifs on an ion channel that specify localization at the axon vs. the dendrite, or at sites that are postsynaptic to one input but not to another? How does electrical stimulation of a specific synapse affect ion channel expression at that synapse? What are the molecular motors that mediate transport of ion channels?
Research Keywords
brain, cell, neurobiology, ion channel, neuron, confocal microscopy, membranes & transport
Research Specialties
Neurobiology

Funded Research

Contracts and Grants Awarded
  • Subcellular Localization of Neuronal Ion Channels (NINDS/NIH), Don B. Arnold, $1,417,500, 07/01/2010-06/30/2014  
  • Subcellular targeting of light-responsive opsins for mapping and manipulating neuronal activity (NIMH/NIH), Don Arnold, $2,025,000, 06/01/2009-05/31/2014  
  • Genetically encoded probes for visualizing neuronal structure and function (NIh (HIGMS)), Don B. Arnold, Richard Roberts, $1,206,200, 08/01/2008-07/31/2012  


Honors and Awards

  • Career Development Award, 2004  
  • NIH/NSF Career Development Award, Independent Scientist Award, National Institute of Mental Health, 2004  


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