WOLLMAN LABORATORY, Department of Human Physiology

In the Wollman lab, our overarching goal is to improve human health through studies aimed at understanding mechanisms of plasticity in the neuro-respiratory system during development, disease, and aging. We use translational models of disease and state of the art neuroscience techniques to unravel mechanisms of breathing control, including sensory integration, neural circuit function, and motor control.

CURRENT RESEARCH

Current work in the Wollman lab is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and studies the effects of nicotine withdrawal after chronic exposure on key neural structures involved in oxygen sensing and the hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR), a critical respiratory chemoreflex.

Novel discoveries from our lab indicates that nicotine withdrawal impairs respiratory chemoreflex control, which may have important clinical ramifications, particularly for acutely hospitalized patients.

Our work aims to understand the mechanisms by which chronic nicotine exposure and acute nicotine withdrawal triggers plasticity in the respiratory neural network.