Project Officer, Molecular Neurotoxicology Laboratory;
CDC Distinguished Consultant

Graduate Training: Emory University
Fellowship: NIDA-NIH, NY State Office of Drug Abuse Services
Pharmacology Research Associate (PRAT Fellow), NIGMS, NIH

Toxicology and Molecular Biology Branch
Health Effects Laboratory Division
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-NIOSH
1095 Willowdale Road
Morgantown, WV 26505
t: 304-285-6079
f: 304-285-6220
e: jdo5@cdc.gov

Research Interests

The Molecular Neurotoxicology Laboratory conducts basic research aimed at establishing the relationship among drug and toxicant-induced changes in gene expression,  growth-associated phosphorylation cascades, dopamine-modulated phosphorylation cascades and signaling events associated with astrocytic hypertrophy and microglial activation (glial responses of the CNS to diverse types of neural injury).   Emphasis is placed on the use of known neurotoxic agents/conditions that affect the basal ganglia, a well-characterized region of the CNS affected in schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.   The goal of the laboratory is discover and characterize novel biomarkers of neural injury and to gain a wider understanding of intracellular signaling pathways associated with neural injury/diseases states in order to develop novel neuroprotective agents and strategies.