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David F. Wozniak, PhD
Current
Position
Research Professor of Psychiatry
University Roles
Director of the Animal Behavior Core
Education and Training
B.A., Psychology, Hobart College, Geneva, NY, 1973
M.A. Experimental Psychology, Connecticut College, New London, CT, 1977
Ph.D. Physiological Psychology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 1984
Areas of Research Interests
A longstanding research interest of mine involves studying the role of NMDA glutamate receptors in learning and memory and in the neuropathologic changes and cognitive decline associated with aging and rodent models of Alzheimers disease. A more recent research focus involves the study of behavioral disturbances resulting from exposure to certain drugs of abuse (e.g., ethanol, phencyclidine) during the early neonatal period in rodents when synaptogenesis is ongoing. Specifically, treating rodents during the first postnatal week with certain classes of drugs such as those that block NMDA receptors or excessively activate GABAA receptors triggers widespread apoptotic neurodegeneration throughout the developing brain. Rodents treated with these drugs demonstrate severe behavioral and cognitive deficits, particularly during adolescence, although sometimes considerable recovery of function may occur during adulthood. Such research provides reasonable animal models for studying the fetal alcohol syndrome and other developmental neuropsychiatric disorders.
Other areas of interest have resulted from my directing the research activities of the Animal Behavior Core. Much of this work involves characterizing the behavioral phenotypes of many of the mutant mice developed and used by investigators at Washington University. These efforts often result in the establishment of different mouse models of human diseases, with particular reference to evaluating compromised behavioral functions and possible therapeutic treatments.
Key Publications
Jevtovic-Todorovic V, Hartman R, Izumi Y, Benshoff ND, Dikranian K, Zorumski CF, Olney JW, Wozniak DF. Early exposure to common anesthetic agents causes widespread neurodegeneration in the developing rat brain and persistent learning deficits. Journal of Neuroscience, 2003, 23: 876-882.
Wozniak DF, Hartman RE, Boyle MP, Vogt SK, Brooks AR, Tenkova T, Young C, Olney JW, Muglia LJ. Apoptotic neurodegeneration induced by ethanol in neonatal mice is associated with profound learning/memory deficits in juveniles followed by progressive functional recovery in adults. Neurobiology of Disease, 2004, 17: 403-414.
Hartman RE, Izumi Y, Bales KR, Paul SM, Wozniak DF, Holtzman DM. Treatment with A? antibody ameliorates plaque load, learning deficits and hippocampal LTP in a mouse model of Alzheimers Disease. Journal of Neuroscience, 2005, 25: 6213-6220.
Griffey MA, Wozniak DF, Wong M, Bible E, Johnson K, Rothman SM, Wentz AE, Cooper JD, Sands MS. CNS-directed AAV2-mediated gene therapy ameliorates functional deficits in a murine model of infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis. Molecular Therapy, 2006, 13: 538-547.
Wozniak DF, Xiao M, Xu L, Yamada KA, and Ornitz DM. Impaired spatial learning and defective theta burst induced LTP in mice lacking fibroblast growth factor 14. Neurobiology of Disease, 2007, 26: 14-26.
Funded Research Projects
NICHD(Key Personnel):Acute Brain Injury, Mechanisms and Consequences
NINDS(Key Personnel):Washington University Center for Translational Neuroscience (Core F)
NIMH(Key Personnel):Mapping Abnormal Neurodevelopment in Schizophrenia
NINDS(Key Personnel):Stereotaxic Accessory for Reproducible Trauma
NICHD(Key Personnel):Novel Therapies for Globoid-Cell Leukodystrophy
NINDS(Key Personnel):Pathophysiology and Novel Therapies for Batten's Disease
NINDS(Key Personnel):Mechanisms of Ischemic Neonatal Brain Injury