Editor Name: Mishra Ram K

Designation: Professor

University: McMaster University

Country: Canada

Biography: Dr. Ram Mishra is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences and and Director of Neuropharmacology Lab at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.. He is internationally well known for his work in dopamine and peptide receptors. He has won numerous prizes and career awards, and currently holds an OMHF Senior Fellowship. His work has been extensively published in various top tier journals including Science, PNAS, J.Biol.Chem, Mol.Pharm, J.Med.Chem, Pharmacogenomics and others. In 2006, Dr. Mishra was named one of the leading scientists in the world by the International Biographic Institute, Cambridge, England. Research in Dr. Mishra’s laboratory focuses on the relationship between genetic, biochemical and molecular mechanisms and neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease. The research team is particularly interested in the role of dopamine receptors in various disease processes, where understanding the molecular basis of their dysfunction could contribute to potential improvements in either disease detection or treatment. The laboratory has been uninterruptedly funded from CIHR, NIH, NSERC and OMHF for the last several years and currently receives major funding from these agencies. The following projects are currently active in the lab: (a) Role of Synapsin II in the pathophysiology of Schizophrenia: Recent efforts have led to the discovery of novel mechanisms suggesting that Synapsin II may be one of the underlying causal factors in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. (b) Development of allosteric drugs targeting dopamine D2L receptors: Recent work has led to the discovery of novel compounds that may be useful for the treatment of negative, positive and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia. (c) Role of Apoptosis-Inducing Factor (AIF) in typical antipsychotic drug-induced cell death: Recent work led to the discovery of Caspase-independent mechanisms for cell death induced by haloperidol (Haldol) treatment in humans. (d) Analysis of chaperone proteins with a focus on the 40 kDa catecholamine regulated protein discovered in our lab: Recent work has led to the potential discovery of an early diagnostic test for Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia.