Decoding Receptor Architectures from the Brain using Native Mass Spectrometry

Tarick J. El-Baba, PhD

Incoming Assistant Professor in Residence
Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases
UC San Francisco

Senior Research Scientist
Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery
Department of Chemistry
University of Oxford

Tarick is an incoming Assistant Professor in Residence in the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care at UCSF, jointly appointed in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry. His laboratory, the Laboratory for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, pairs native mass spectrometry with behavioral assays in mouse models and post-mortem human tissue to trace the path from individual molecules through neural circuits to brain function and disease. The team captures molecular snapshots of synaptic receptors that shape pain and perception and that go awry in brain disorders such as addiction, major depression, and neurodegeneration. Current work uses anesthetics as molecular probes of consciousness, sensation, and perception, asking how receptor assemblies and their local environment give rise to these states. He is currently a Senior Research Scientist at the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery at the University of Oxford.