With a Faculty Award for Women Scientists and Engineers from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Gail Mandel will continue to investigate the basis of regulated expression of sodium channel genes in the nervous system. Presently, Dr. Mandel is focusing on the molecular events leading to the first appearance of sodium channels in the developing embryonic nervous system. This examination will determine whether cell-cell interactions are critical for the initial activation of sodium channel gene expression and, if so, how signals are transmitted to the nucleus. The importance of molecular studies on channel genes may extend to other genes involved in commitment to the neuronal pathway, having a major impact on the field of molecular neurobiology in general and the understanding of ion channel regulation in particular.
