Benavides Laboratory
David Benavides, MD, PhD, left, in the lab with Yuyoung Joo, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow.
We are a translational clinical neuroscience research program that investigates immune regulation of neuronal function, with particular interest in autoantibody-mediated neurological syndromes.
We utilize cell culture, primary neuronal culture, and rodent animal models combined with a multidisciplinary approach involving pharmacology, protein biochemistry, proteomics, cell biology, and molecular biology.
The unifying objective of our research is to identify novel therapeutic targets for neurologic diseases.
Dr. Benavides' research focuses on:
- Immune regulation of neuronal plasticity
- Neuronal signal transduction
- Animal models of immune dysregulation
Read Dr. Benavides' publications on PubMed
Techniques Used in the Benavides Laboratory
- Protein biochemistry
- Molecular biology
- Proteomics
- Pharmacology
- Live cell microscopy
- Confocal microscopy
- Primary neuronal culture
- Acute rodent brain slice
- Rodent animal models
Collaborators
The lab actively collaborates with:
Thomas Blanpied, PhD (Physiology)
To use advanced live-cell and super-resolution microscopy to study the effect of immune factors on synaptic structure and function
Peter Crino, MD, PhD (Neurology) and Joseph Cheer, PhD (Anatomy and Neurobiology)
To investigate mTOR signaling in epileptic networks using biochemistry and live cell calcium imaging in vitro
Alexandros Poulopoulos, PhD (Pharmacology)
To establish CRISPR/Cas9 editing of synaptic targets in neurons in vitro and in vivo
Positions Available
Post-doctoral fellows, PhD students, undergraduate students and technical staff interested in working in our lab are encouraged to contact Dr. Benavides via email.
Contact Us
Benavides Laboratory
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Department of Neurology
Health Sciences Facility II
20 Penn Street
Room GS003
Baltimore, MD 21201
dbenavides@som.umaryland.edu