Biography
Anjali Rajadhyaksha, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medical College. She received her undergraduate degree with highest honors in Chemistry and Physics from Bombay University, Bombay, India. She then obtained her PhD in molecular biology with a focus on regulation of gene expression, from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. After receiving her PhD, she moved to the field of Neuroscience and obtained postdoctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts. There she gained expertise in dopamine signal transduction pathways relevant to neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. Following her postdoctoral training, she continued at MGH as junior faculty and trained as an addiction neurobiologist on an NIH Career Development Award. Her work focused on the basic molecular mechanisms by which voltage-gated L-type Ca2 channels (LTCCs) mediate dopamine and glutamate signaling in the meso-accumbens and meso-striatal pathways.
Dr. Rajadhyaksha's current work is focused on examining neuronal voltage-gated L-type Ca2 channel subunits, Cav1.2 and Cav1.3 in experience-dependent plasticity. She is currently pursuing the following projects in her laboratory.
1. Use of genetic mutant mouse models to delineate the roles of the voltage-gated L-type Ca2 channel subunits, Cav1.2 and Cav1.3 in psychostimulant-induced addictive behaviors and to explore the molecular mechanisms by which Cav1.2 and Cav1.3 channels mediate persistent adaptations in dopamine and glutamate neurotransmission in the rodent brain.
2. Use of RNA interference (RNAi) to generate spatial and temporal knockdown of Cav1.2 and Cav1.3 to examine the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory.
3. To identify mechanisms of dysregulation of Ca2 signaling in Autism spectrum disorder, a brain developmental disorder.
