Dr. ARTHUR ROSEN

Our laboratory has been studying the effects of physical factors on the cell membrane. Of particular interest has been examining the influence of temperature and magnetic fields on the function of ion channels. We found that the effects of temperature were clearly nonlinear and reflect thermotropic phase transitions within the phospholipid matrix of the membrane. We have also found that strong static magnetic fields exert a transient effect on membrane ion channel function. This effect appears related to the diamagnetic anisotropic properties if membrane phospholipids. This finding is important in accessing the safety of magnetic fields in medical imaging procedures.

My teaching activities include the neurophysiology lectures in Biology 495N, Introduction to Neurobiology. This course is designed to provide an overview of neurobiology to upper level undergraduate students. Lectures in Medical Physiology as well as a laboratory in Medical Physiology are given to the first year medical students. These courses are designed to provide a physiological basis for the understanding of human disease. In addition, Clinical Neurology lectures are provided to medical students in both the Human Neuroscience course and Introduction to Clinical Medicine. Both of these courses attempt to correlate basic science with clinical science.