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Faculty Detail    
Name VLADIMIR PARPURA
  
Campus Address CIRC 429A Zip 0021
Phone 205-996-7369
E-mail vlad@uab.edu
Other websites http://neurobiology-uab.infomedia.com/bios.asp?action=form&recordID=209600
     


Faculty Appointment(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Primary  Neurobiology  Neurobiology Associate Professor
Secondary  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology Associate Professor
Center  Civitan International Research Center  Civitan International Research Center Associate Professor
Center  General Clinical Research Center  Comprehensive Neuroscience Center Associate Professor
Center  Ctr for Glial Bio in Med  Ctr for Glial Bio in Med Associate Professor

Graduate Biomedical Sciences Affiliations
Cell, Molecular, & Developmental Biology 
Cellular and Molecular Biology Program 
Neuroscience 

Biographical Sketch 
EDUCATION:

09/84-07/89 School of Medicine in Split, University of Zagreb, Croatia; received M.D. degree in July 1989; MD Thesis: “Biological role of gangliosides”; Major Professors: Drs. I. Kracun and C. Cosovic
01/90-12/93 Dept. of Zoology & Genetics and Program for Neuroscience, Iowa State University, Ames, IA; received Ph.D. degree in December 1993; PhD Thesis: “Glia-neuron signaling”; Major Professor Dr. Philip G. Haydon

MEDICAL EXPERIENCE:

07/87 International Educational Exchange, Dept. of Haemodynamics, University Clinic Novi Sad, Yugoslavia
07/88 International Educational Exchange, Dept. of General Surgery, University General Hospital Cordoba, Spain
07/89 International Educational Exchange, University of Rome, Italy, declined
07/89-12/89 Rotating Internship in Medicine, Clinical Hospital Center, Split, University of Zagreb, Croatia

RESEARCH AND ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS:

09/86-12/89 Research assistant in biochemistry. Gangliosides in patients suffering from cancer. Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Zagreb (Drs. I. Kracun and C. Cosovic).
09/86-12/89 Research assistant in clinical immunology. Parietaria officials-induced allergy. Dept. of Physiology & Immunology, Dept. of Internal Medicine, University of Zagreb (Drs. M. Marusic and S. Cvitanovic).
01/90-07/90 Research assistant in neurophysiology. Slow excitatory potentials in rat spinal dorsal horn in vitro. Dept. of Veterinary Physiology & Pharmacology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA (Dr. M. Randic)
08/90-12/93 Research assistant in departmental research. Atomic force microscopy of living cells. Glia-neuron signaling. Dept. of Zoology & Genetics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA (Dr. P.G. Haydon)
01/94-11/94 Postdoctoral research associate. Glia-neuron signaling. Dept. of Zoology & Genetics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA (Dr. P.G. Haydon)
09-10/94 Visiting postdoctoral research associate. Dept. of Pharmacology and Cell Biology, Yale University Medical School, New Haven, CT (Dr. R Jahn).
12/94-11/96 Postdoctoral research fellow. Dept. of Physiology & Biophysics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN (Dr. J.M. Fernandez)
01/96- 07/02 Visiting scientist, Cornell Nanofabrication Facility, Knight Laboratory, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
12/96-7/00 Affiliate Assistant Professor. Dept. of Zoology & Genetics, Iowa State University, Ames,IA
05/98-7/00 A Graduate Faculty in Dept. of Zoology & Genetics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
10/98-7/00 A Graduate Faculty in Program for Neuroscience, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
7/00-6/05 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Univ. of California, Riverside, CA
9/00-9/15/07 Member, Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Univ. of California, Riverside, CA
9/00-9/15/07 Member, Graduate Program in Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology, Univ. of California, Riverside, CA
7/05-6/30/07 Associate Professor (with tenure), Dept. of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Univ. of California, Riverside, CA; sabbatical leave in residence (7/1/06-1/2/07)
12/05-6/30/07 Member, Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, Univ. of California, Riverside, CA
7/06-6/30/07 Cooperative Faculty, Associate Professor, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Univ. of California, Riverside, CA
7/1/-9/15/07 Visiting Associate Researcher, Dept. of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Univ. of California, Riverside, CA
7/1/07- Associate Professor (with tenure), Dept. of Neurobiology; Scientist, Civitan International Research Center and Center for Glial Biology in Medicine; Investigator, Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute; Director, Atomic Force Microscopy & Nanotechnology Laboratories; Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham, AL; Secondary appointments: Comprehensive Neuroscience Center (7/20/07-); Dept of Cell Biology (8/27/07-), Dept of Vision Science (9/28/07-), Intellectual and
Disabilities Research Center (12/17/07-), Dept of Biomedical Engineering (1/1/09-), Center for Nanoscale Materials and Biointegration (4/28/10-), Center for Biophysical Sciences and Engineering (6/17/10-)
9/12/07- Graduate Faculty, Dept. of Neurobiology, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham, AL
10/4/07- Graduate Faculty, Cellular and Molecular Biology Program, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham, AL
5/08- Visiting Graduate Faculty (foreign lecturer), Biophysics PhD Programme, Faculty of Science (PMFST), University of Split, Split, Croatia
5/12/11- Visiting Professor, Graduate PhD Program in Translational research in biomedicine (TRIBE), School of Medicine, University of Split, Split, Croatia
10/1/11- Visiting IKERBASQUE Researcher, Functional Neuroanatomy (J.J Rodríguez) Department of Neurosciences, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU-Leioa; Technological Park, Zamudio, Spain

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
American Society for Neurochemistry  Secretary-elect    
American Society for Neurochemistry  Council   
American Society for Neurochemistry  2010 Scientific Program Committee    
American Society for Neurochemistry  Chair, Membership Committee    
Exocytosis/Endocytosis Subgroup, Biophysical Society   Executive Committee   
Gordon Research Conferences  Council   
Riverside/Inland Empire Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience  Founder and Representative   
 

Research/Clinical Interest
Title
The role of glial cells in physiology of nervous system.
Description
My current research includes: i) studying the modulation of calcium-dependent glutamate release from astrocytes in health and disease; ii) visualization of vesicular/receptor trafficking; iii) examination of the nature and energetics of interactions between exocytotic proteins using single molecule detection approaches; iv) development of scaffolds and dispersible materials, most notably modified carbon nanotubes, which can be used in repair after brain injury and v) bio-mimetic micro-robotics. I have been interfacing neuroscience with nanoscience/nanotechnology, synthetic biology and biomedical engineering.

Keywords
astrocyte, exocytosis, glutamate

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