Anne McKinney
Professor, Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics
Dr. Anne McKinney obtained her Ph.D, at the University of Ulster in 1992. She then spent the next 5 years in the Department of Neurophysiology at the Brain Research Institute, University of Zurich as a postdoctoral fellow. In 1998 she obtained her own group at the Brain Research Institute. She joined the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics in 2005.
Dr. McKinney’s principle research interest is the mechanisms involved in development and maintenance of excitatory synapses in the CNS, during physiological and pathological conditions, such as epilepsy and mental retardation. The synaptogenesis and maintenance of synaptic structures, key issues in neuroscience, are still poorly understood despite intensive research efforts. Her group’s studies are concentrated on the hippocampus, a brain region thought to be involved in learning and memory. The McKinney lab is using a combination of techniques including, 4-dimensional confocal laser scanning microscopy, serial electron microscopy, transgenic animals and electrophysiological techniques to investigate the structure and function of dendritic spines and their synapses.
