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Staff Scientists
Robert A. Rissman
Staff Scientist
Laboratory of Neuronal Structure and Function
Dr. Rissman received his graduate degree in Neuroscience from Drexel University College of Medicine in 2001. He completed postgraduate training at the University of California, Irvine and at The Salk Institute, before joining the UCSD Department of Neurosciences in 2008. Dr. Rissman heads a research group studying how changes in stress signaling pathways confer increased vulnerability to neurodegeneration. In addition to his primary research, Dr. Rissman is also the director of the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study Laboratory at UCSD.
The primary focus of Dr. Rissman's laboratory is to study the contribution of chronic stress and changes in stress signaling intermediates in Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology. Current areas of investigation include (1) the use of corticotropin-releasing factor receptors (CRFR) knockout mice to identify the role of CRFRs in stress-induced tau phosphorylation; (2) in vivo pharmacology studies to assay the impact of CRFR antagonists on beta-amyloid production/plaque development in AD transgenic mice; (3) the use of human postmortem tissues are being used to assay the specific changes that occur in the CRF signaling system during aging and Alzheimer's disease.
Dr. Rissman's laboratory is funded by R01 AG032755 from the National Institute on Aging. Dr. Rissman is a member of the Graduate Program in Neurosciences at UCSD. He serves as an ad hoc reviewer for several scientific journals.
Education
- B.A., University of California, San Diego
- Ph.D., Drexel University College of Medicine
Awards and Honors
- Ellison Medical Foundation/AFAR Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship
- The Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award
- Neurobiology of Aging Training Grant Award
- Psi Chi Honor Society
Selected Publications
- Maji SK, Perrin MH, Sawaya MR, Jessberger S, Vadodaria K, Rissman RA, Singru PS, Nilsson KPR, Simon R, Schubert D, Eisenberg D, Rivier J, Sawchenko PE, Vale W, Riek R. (2009). Functional Amyloids as Natural Storage of Peptide Hormones in Pituitary Secretory Granules. Science, In press
- Rissman, RA. (2009). Stress-Induced Tau Phosphorylation: Functional Neuroplasticity or Neuronal Vulnerability? (Invited Review). J Alzheimer's Dis, In press
- Rissman RA, De Blas AL, Armstrong DM. (2007). GABAA Receptors in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease (Invited Review). J. Neurochem. 103:1285-1292.
- Rissman RA, Lee KF, Vale WW, Sawchenko PE. (2007). Corticotropin-releasing factor receptors differentially regulate stress-induced tau phosphorylation by alteration of tau kinase activity. J. Neurosci 27(24): 6552-6562
- Rissman RA, Nocera R, Fuller L, Kordower JH, Armstrong DM. (2006) Age-Related Alterations in GABAA Receptor Subunits in the Non-Human Primate Hippocampus. Brain Res 1073: 120-130
- Newman J, Rissman RA, Sarsoza F, Kim RC, Dick M, Rohn TT, Head E. (2005). Caspase-cleaved Tau Accumulation in Neurodegenerative Diseases Associated with Tau and a-Synuclein Pathology. Acta Neuropath 110(2): 135-144.
- Cotman CW, Poon WW, Rissman RA, Blurton-Jones M. (2005). The Role of Caspase-Cleavage of Tau in Alzheimer's Disease Neuropathology (Invited Review). J. Neuropath. Exp. Neurol., 64(2): 104-12
- Rissman RA, Bennett DA, Armstrong DM. (2004). Subregional Analysis of GABAA Receptor Subunit mRNAs in the Hippocampus of Persons with and without Cognitive Impairment. J. Chem. Neuroanat., 28(1-2): 17-25
- Cribbs DH, Poon WW, Rissman RA, Blurton-Jones M. (2004). Caspase-Mediated Degeneration in Alzheimer's Disease (Invited commentary). Am. J. Pathol., 165(2): 353-355
- Rissman RA, Poon WW, Blurton-Jones M, Oddo S, Torp R, Vitek, MP, LaFerla FM, Rohn TT, Cotman CW. (2004). Caspase-Cleavage of Tau is an Early Event in Alzheimer's Disease Tangle Pathology. J. Clin. Invest., 114(1): 121-130
- Carter TL, Rissman RA, Mishizen-Eberz AJ, Armstrong DM. (2004). Differential Preservation of AMPA Receptor Subunits in the Hippocampi of Alzheimer's Disease Patients According to Braak Stage. Exp. Neurol., 187(2): 299-309
- Mishizen-Eberz AJ, Rissman RA, Carter TL, Ikonomovic MD, Wolfe BB, Nissanov, J, Armstrong DM. (2004). Subregional Analysis of N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Subunits and Gene Expression in the Hippocampus of Alzheimer's Disease Patients: A Biochemical and in situ hybridization Study. Neurobiol. Dis., 15(1): 80-92
- Armstrong DM, Sheffield R, Mishizen-Eberz AJ, Carter TL, Rissman RA, Mizukami K, Ikonomovic MD. (2003). Plasticity of Glutamate and GABAA Receptors in the Hippocampus of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease. Cell Mol. Neurobiol., 23(4-5): 491-505
- Rissman RA, Mishizen-Eberz, AJ, Carter, TL, Wolfe B.B., De Blas AL, Miralles CP, Ikonomovic MD, Armstrong, DM. (2003). Biochemical Analysis of GABAA Receptor Subunits a1, a5, Beta1, and Beta2 in the Hippocampus of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease Neuropathology. Neuroscience, 120(3): 695-704
- Rohn TT, Rissman RA, Head E, Cotman CW. (2002). Caspase Activation in the Alzheimer's Disease Brain: Tortuous and Torturous (Feature/Cover Article). Drug News Perspect 15(9):1-9
- Rohn TT, Rissman RA, Davis MC, Cotman CW, Head E. (2002). Caspase-9 Activation and Caspase Cleavage of Tau in the Alzheimer's Disease Brain (Cover Article). Neurobiol. Dis. 11 (2): 341-354
- Bittencourt JC, Vaughan J, Arias C, Rissman RA, Vale WW, Sawchenko PE (1999). Urocortin Expression in the Rat Brain: Evidence against a Pervasive Relationship of Urocortin-Containing Projections with Targets Bearing Type 2 CRF Receptors. J. Comp. Neurol. 415(3): 285-312
- Bittencourt JC, Casseti CA, Rissman RA, Nahon JL, Bauer JA (1998). The Distribution of Melanin-Concentrating Hormone in the Monkey Brain. Brain Res. 804(1): 140-143