Neuroscience Faculty
Megan Bertholomey (Assistant Professor of Psychology), B.A., Knox College; M.S., Ph.D., Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. Research Interests: Neuroscience, drug-seeking (especially alcohol), behavioral pharmacology, influence of stress and sex hormones on mental illness.
Shelby Blair (Assistant Professor of Neuroscience), B.A., Miami University; Ph.D., Texas A&M University. Research Interests: Neuroscience, learning theory, fear-learning and memory: neurocircuitry, sex differences, behavioral pharmacology.
Lauren B. French (Associate Professor of Biology, Program Coordinator-Neuroscience), B.A., Oberlin College; Ph.D., Cornell University. Teaching and Research: molecular neuroscience, ion channel development, receptor gene sequences, and operation.
Jeff Hollerman (Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience), B.S., Allegheny College; M.S., Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh. Teaching and Research: neurophysiology and anatomy of motivational and cognitive systems.
Kristen Warren (Assistant Professor), B.A., Smith College, Ph.D., Northwestern University. Research Interests: human episodic memory, brain networks, neuroimaging, cognitive neuroscience.
Professor Emeritus
E. Lee Coates (Emeritus Professor of Biology and Neuroscience), B.A., University of Montana; Ph.D., University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Teaching and Research: sensory neurophysiology, control of breathing, comparative animal physiology.
Ronald Mumme (Professor of Biology), B.S., University of South Florida; Ph.D., University of California (Berkeley). Teaching and Research: behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology.
Faculty Research and Grants
Allegheny College is fortunate to have a first-rate Office of Foundation & Corporate Relations that helps faculty identify funding sources for projects, aids in proposal preparation, and provides assistance throughout the duration of a grant. Some previous grants from neuroscience faculty are listed below.
Lee Coates, Emeritus Professor of Biology and Neuroscience was awarded more than $98,000 by the National Institutes of Health to fund a research project titled “Nasal CO2 Receptors and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).” This project investigates the role of olfactory CO2 chemoreceptors in a ventilatory reflex that inhibits breathing when CO2 is elevated in the nasal passages. Dr. Coates and his students are investigating the changes that occur in this reflex during development, using an animal model.
He was also the director of a W.M. Keck Foundation grant ($400,000) titled: “Ways of knowing and habits of mind: Exploring the intersection between neuroscience and the humanities.” The grant funded four new interdisciplinary courses: “Neuroscience and Dance Movement,” “Neuroscience of the Visual Arts,” “Mind and Brain” and “History of Neuroscience.” In addition to funding the development of the new curriculum, the grant provided for technological equipment, supplies for senior research projects, support for faculty and students to attend professional conferences, and an outreach program that allowed the College to more actively pursue presentations at other institutions and regional schools.