Sepehr Eskandari, Ph.D. Principal Investigator Sep Eskandari has been at Cal Poly Pomona since Fall 2000. His connection to Cal Poly Pomona goes back a long way, however, as he pursued his undergraduate (chemistry) and master’s (biology) studies here at Cal Poly Pomona. After completing a Ph.D. in Physiology at UCLA, and a post-doctoral fellowship also at UCLA, he returned here to his home institution. In addition to his research on Na+-coupled cotransporters, he takes a very active role in teaching physiology and neuroscience courses. He also contributes to the Biological Sciences Department, College of Science, and Cal Poly Pomona by participating in many key committees. Currently, he serves as the Chair of the Biological Sciences Department. Curriculum vitae E-mail: seskandari@csupomona.edu Web: http://www.csupomona.edu/~seskandari/

Cynthia M. Anderson, B.S., M.S. Research Associate Cindy Anderson is responsible for keeping the lab going! Cindy is involved in multiple projects including electrophysiological characterization of the GABA transporters, immunolocalization of the GABA transporters in nervous and non-nervous tissues, as well as characterization of the components of GABAergic transmission in bovine sperm function. Cindy also played/plays an instrumental role in developing/maintaining the GABA Transporter Mutagenesis Database (GATMD). GATMD is online at: http://physiology.sci.csupomona.edu/GATMD/. She has contributed significanlty to published studies from the lab (Anderson et al., 2010; Omoto et al., 2012), as well as several other studies under way.

Rachel V. Sanchez, B.S. Graduate Student Rachel Sanchez utilizes rapid concentration jumps in order to better understand the mechanism of substrate (Na+, Cl-, and GABA) interaction with the GABA transporters. As an undergraduate student in the lab, Rachel contributed significantly to a study in which the functional consequences of sulfhydryl modification of solvent-exposed residues of GAT1 were studied (Omoto et al., 2012). A manuscript describing her recent experiments is in preparation.

Samantha Willford, B.S. Graduate Student Samantha is coming to us with a B.A. in History and Biology from Tufts University. She will become a Master's student in Fall 2013, and will focus on concentration jump experiments that will better characterize the mechanism of substrate (Na+, Cl-, and GABA) interaction with the GABA transporters.

Melika Shayegh Undergraduate Student Melika is a Ronald McNair Scholar in the lab. She is involved in experiments that characterize the effect of GABA on sperm motility patterns.

Elizabeth Michaela Lizhar Research Assistant Michaela is an undergraduate research assistant in the lab. She helps with a variety of functions ranging from preparing various solutions and buffers to assisting with other essential functions that keep the experiments going.