The Department of Neurobiology, Physiology & Behavior supports our underrepresented students and rejects all forms of discrimination. Racial Trauma Resources

human health

Picture of Arik

Investigating Age-Related Muscle Mass Loss with Arik Davidyan, ’14 B.S. in Exercise Biology and ’20 Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology

  • by Gregory D Watry
Summary
  • Skeletal muscles decay with age, a natural process known as sarcopenia 
  • During his time at UC Davis, alum Arik Davidyan investigated testosterone's role in muscle mass gain, maintenance and decay
  • Today, Davidyan is a postdoctoral fellow at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, where he investigates the role mitochondrial dysfunction plays in aging

Your muscles ensure your survival.

Picture of mark and a student

Professor Mark Goldman Appointed to the Joel Keizer Endowed Chair in Theoretical and Computational Biology

  • by Gregory D Watry
Quick Summary
  • To figure out the labyrinthine-like puzzle of the brain, scientists need computational and quantitative biology skills
  • Professor Mark Goldman applies the quantitative skills he learned as a physicist to questions in neuroscience
  • Named to the Keizer Chair, Goldman will continue to make UC Davis a home for quantitative biology by ushering in a new quantitative biology major

Our brains are incredible biological machines synthesizing uncountable, chaotic, sen

Picture of Lucas

Discovering Curiosity: Fighting Neuromuscular Disorders with New Faculty Lucas Smith

  • by Gregory D Watry
Quick Summary
  • Assistant Professor Lucas Smith studies neuromuscular disorders, like cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy
  • Smith explores how scar tissue accumulation, which is seen in these conditions, affects muscle mechanics
  • He wants to find ways to increase the expression of proteins that can alleviate overly stiff muscles

In debilitating neuromuscular disorders, like muscular dystrophies and cerebral palsy, the body’s muscles scar, turning fibrotic and st

Picture of Marty in lab gear adjusting equipment

Exploring Vision, Perception and Behavior: W. Martin Usrey Named Barbara A. Horwitz and John M. Horowitz Endowed Chair in Physiology

  • by Gregory D Watry
Quick Summary
  • The Barbara A. Horwitz and John M. Horowitz Endowed Chair in Physiology was created in 2004
  • Usrey will hold the appointment for five years
  • The endowment will support his research in visual perception, teaching and service activities

Amblyopia, or reduced vision from one eye, affects approximately two to three of every 100 children, according to the National Eye Institute. Today the disability is

Subscribe to human health Content