Roger Thompson
Positions
Professor
Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy
Full Member
Hotchkiss Brain Institute
Contact information
Phone number
Office: +1 (403) 210-6312
Background
Educational Background
B.Sc(H). Biological Sciences, Queen's University, 1994
Doctor of Philosophy Biological Sciences, McMaster University, 2000
Biography
Dr. Thompson is a cellular and synaptic neuroscientist with interests in mechanisms of cell to cell communication and how this is altered by hypoxia (stroke) and other diseases, such as dementia. He received his PhD in Biology from McMaster University in 2000 where he studied under the eminent neuroscientist Dr. Colin Nurse. Following this, he joined Dr. John Caldwell at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center as an NSERC funded postdoctoral fellow. In Colorado, Dr. Thompson learned key molecular biology techniques and made seminal discoveries on the nature of molecular transport across intracellular membranes, specifically the Golgi complex. In 2004 he move to the University of British Columbia to work as a postdoc with Dr. Brian MacVicar. In Vancouver he discovered the role of pannexin ion channels in neuronal death during stroke and published this work in the leading journal, Science. Since 2008 he has been a faculty member at the University of Calgary. He has built an outstanding research team that studies the role of pannexin channels and glutamate receptors in neuronal death and synaptic (dis)function. Dr. Thompson and his team are particularly interested in how environmental and physiological stressors (such as stroke) interact with normal brain mechanism to cause dementia.
Research
Areas of Research
Dr. Thompson's lab is focussed on understanding the mechanisms of neuronal death during neurodegenerative diseases and the fundamentals of synaptic plasticity. They currently focus on a novel mechanism of signalling by the NMDA receptor, its so-called metabotropic role. Additionally, the lab uses state of the art electrophysiology, imaging, and molecular biology techniques to elucidate the diverse neuronal and synaptic roles played by an ion channel, pannexin-1 in cell death and plasticity.
Participation in university strategic initiatives
Awards
- AHFMR Scholar, 2009
- Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada New Investigator, 2008
- Henry J.M. Barnett Scholarship Award, 2008
Are you the profile owner?
Login to edit.