Susan Birren & Gina Turrigiano

When Dr. Birren arrived at Brandeis University she was an accomplished researcher in cell culture, neurotrophins, and molecular biology, but had no training or experience in electrophysiology. When Dr. Turrigiano started as an Assistant Professor she had a great deal of experience in electrophysiology and in cultured invertebrate neurons, but no experience with cultures of vertebrate neurons.

Dr. Birren and Dr. Turrigiano and a previous trainee teamed up on a collaborative project that used electrophysiology as an assay for synapse formation between sympathetic neurons and target neurons with the aim of understanding how a variety of factors influence the excitability of these neurons and the kinds of synaptic contacts they make.

This project yielded a J. Neuroscience paper that was coauthored, and catalyzed Dr. Turrigiano's interest in neurotrophins and Dr. Birren's use of electrophysiological methods.