Ya-Ping Tang

BS Medicine - 1982 Luchow Medical College, Sichun, China MD Internal Medicine, Neurology - 1983 Luchow Medical College, Sichun, China MS Behavioral Pharmacology - 1989 Shanghai Second Medical University, Shanghai, China PhD Neurobiology & Molecular Biology - 1998 Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan The research program in Dr. Tang's lab is Mouse Behavioral Genetics. The long-term goal of this program is to understand the roles of genes in cognitive processes such as learning and memory as well as the role of gene mutations int he pathogenesis of certain brain diseases with memory deficits such as Alzheimer's disease. A significant advantage in this lab is the combination of multiple disciplinary approahces including molecular biology, histology/morphology, mouse genetics, electrophysiological (collaborating with our colleagues), and mouse behavioral approaches in their studies. Moreover, the use of conditional genetic approaches int his lab allows a time-dependent and/or neuronal cell types/brain region-specific analysis of gene function at the molecular, neuronal, morphological, and behavioral levels. The analyses at these levels provide a valuable way to eventually understand how gene controls brain functions and how gene mutations contribute to brain diseases. Currently, this lab is focusing on two main research topics: neurobiology of learning and memory and neurobiology of neurodegenerative diseases.

December 2013