I am from Andhra Pradesh (southern India) and obtained masters in Biochemistry from Nagarjuna University.

I joined Dr. Cooper's lab in January 2003. My projects are involved with pharmacological assessment of the central and peripheral receptors to various neuromodulators in Drosophila (fruit flies).

The ability to combine a genetically favorable system and pharmacological studies is opening new horizons in regulation of development, regeneration and repair of central neural circuits. In addition, neuromodulators provide a rapid way in which animals can tune up or down activity within a neural circuit and may be responsible for rapid changes in behavior, as recently examined for aggressive behavior in Drosophila. I am assessing three common neuromodulators of interest in arthropod neurobiology: serotonin (5-HT), octopamine (OA), and dopamine (DA). There is a precedence of 5-HT, DA, and OA to have central effects in the Drosophila brain. There are many questions that remain to be addressed so I am trying to determine which ones are the best to tackle first.

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Contact Information:

675 Rose St.
Department of Biology
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40506-0225

E-mail: sameera@uky.edu

Phone: (859) 257 5950