Dr. David Friel Case Western Reserve University, USA

D. Friel attended the University of Washington where he received an undergraduate degree in physics before going on to earn a PhD in Biophysics at the University of Chicago. As a postdoctoral researcher he investigated ATP-gated ion channels in cardiac and smooth muscle cells and Ca2+ signaling in neurons. He... read morenow is an associate professor in the Department of Neurosciences at Case Western Reserve University. His research focuses on chemical and electrical signaling in neurons, using electrophysiological and optical methods to investigate the functional interplay between Ca2+ entry via Ca2+ channels and Ca2+ uptake and release by intracellular stores in determining the spatiotemporal characteristics of stimulus-evoked Ca2+ signals. He has also studied the impact of Ca2+ channel mutations that produce cerebellar ataxia on electrical properties of cells within the cerebellum and synaptic transmission between these cells.