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Web mail
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The Neuroscience Research Institute is a team-oriented project-based research
facility.
Each team members' experience and expertise is integral to our
success. Below you will
find our faculty and staff backgrounds and areas of
expertise, as well as e-mail links.
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Director |
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Associate Director |
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Senior Research Faculty |
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Senior
Research Faculty |
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Senior
Research Faculty |
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Senior
Research Faculty |
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Post-Doctoral Research Faculty |
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Lecturing Research Faculty |
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Research Support Specialist |
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Research Secretary / Web Administrator |
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Secretary |
Past and Present Students
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NRI Director |
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Dr. George B.
Stefano is the Director of the Neuroscience
Research Institute. Dr. Stefano is a Distinguished Professor of SUNY
and CASE Professor of New York. He
serves as Vice Chair of the
Research Foundation of SUNY Board of Directors,
as well as a member of its Executive Committee.
He is the editor of Medical
Science Monitor, as well as several other international journals and has published over
275 peer reviewed reports. He has funding from the NIMH, NIDA and NIH
Fogarty International Center. The Neuroscience
Research Institute has also received grants from
LifeWaves International Inc., Cell Dynamics, Corp,
and the Kiernan Wellness Center.
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Associate Director |
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Dr. Pryor is the Associate Director of the Old Westbury
Neuroscience Research Institute as well as the Director of the NIMH Career
Opportunities in Research (COR) program and the NIMH Neuroscience High
School Honors Research program. He is also Principal Investigator of an NIMH
funded project entitled: "Chronic Opiate Processes in Parasitism." He has
numerous peer reviewed publications in the areas of parasitology and
neurobiology. He has both a Ph.D. and M.P.H. from the University of Texas,
School of Public Health. Before coming to Old Westbury, he did post doctoral
research at the Center for Population and Demographic Genetics at the
University Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
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Senior Research Faculty
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Dr. Nieto-Fernandez is originally from
Madrid, Spain, where he completed his undergraduate studies in Biology
(specialty Zoology) in 1984 at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid. In
1986 he moved to New York City to attend the Graduate School and University
Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) where he obtained his
doctoral degree in Biology (Ecology, Evolution and Behavior subprogram) in
1995. In the fall of 1996 he became an Assistant Professor at SUNY College
at Old Westbury where he joined the Neuroscience Research Institute. His
research interests include the study of the effects of xenobiotics,
particularly heavy metals, on biological systems, and the role of opiates
and opioids on host-parasite interactions and in nociception using nematode
models. He is also the Director of the
MHIRT International Program.
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Senior Research Faculty
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Dr. Richard Kream earned his
PhD in Biochemistry from Albert Einstein School of Medicine in 1980.
He was a Professor of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology at Tufts University
Medical School until 2000. He was then Professor of Biochemistry at
SUNY Downstate before joining the Neuroscience Research Institute as a
recipient of an Empire Innovation Program position. His field of
expertise involves non-addicting analgesics and novel opioid compounds.
He is the founder of and chief scientific officer of
Chimeracom LLC.
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Senior Research Faculty
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Dr. Cadet received his
Ph.D. in virology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston
Texas. He also had a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University in
Molecular Biology. Dr. Cadet is currently a Senior Research
Scientist on a project for the
National Institute on Mental Health. He currently is working on cloning novel
opiate receptors from human vascular and immune tissues. His knowledge
in the area of molecular biology is extensive.
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Senior Research Faculty
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Dr. Zhu received his Ph.D. from
the Laboratory of Developmental Physiology and Molecular Biology, Zoological
Institute, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He had a
post-doctoral fellowship with the Mind Body Medical Institute of Harvard
University. He is currently
working on various projects as a protein and opiate alkaloid
biochemist and has pioneered techniques in their detection in small samples
of tissues. Dr. Zhu is also a visiting professor at National Center for Pain
Management of China Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing, China. He is
editor of 2 journals: Medical Science Monitor and Letter of
Neuroendocrinology. He has over 50 publications in peer viewed journals. He was recently awarded an Empire Innovation Program position.
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Post-Doctoral Research Faculty
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Dr. Casares received his M.S. in Marine Environmental Sciences and his
Ph.D. in Marine and Atmospheric Sciences from the State University of New
York at Stony Brook. He specializes in the bio-detection of opiate
alkaloids via HPLC coupled to electrochemical
detection and radioimmune assays. Additionally, he works with invertebrate
and human immune cells, examines their behavior via computer-assisted image
analysis, as well as examines calcium transients and constitutive nitric
oxide production. He also studies neuromimmune processes in marine
invertebrates in response to different stressors, including common
environmental contaminants.
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Lecturing Research Faculty
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Received his M.S. from
State University of New York at Stony Brook. He specializes in real-time
RT-PCR and opiate expression in samples obtained from human surgery, also
the measurement of constitutively expressed nitric oxide. His research
interests include effect of nitric oxide on gene expression. He was recently
awarded an Empire Innovation Program position.
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Research Support Specialist
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Melinda Sheehan received her
Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from Fordham University in
2003 after attending for only 3 years. After working in the computer
science field she decided her calling was with the natural sciences. Melinda
has completed upper level coursework at SUNY Old Westbury in the physical
and biological sciences. She achieved academic recognition when she was
invited into the Honor Society at Old Westbury. Melinda specializes in
molecular biology techniques and has been trained by Applied Biosystems to
use the 1700 Chemiluminescent Microarray Analyzer.
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Research Secretary / Web Administrator
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Received her Bachelors Degree in Biology from State University
of New York College at Old Westbury, receiving honors and the Chancellors
Award for her academic performance. She has recently received her NYS
Teaching Certificate in Biology and General Science and is completing her post graduate work in Ecology at SUNY
Stony Brook.
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Secretary
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Lisette is earning her B.S. in Biology at Old Westbury, while she works
in the NRI office. She handles most of the purchasing for the research labs as well as
organizing the MHIRT International Program and tracking our student
achievements. If you are a former student and would like to update us
on your progress, please send her an email!
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