Dr. John O'Reilly
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
Ph.D., Yale University, 1997
Office: 306 Biology Building
Phone: (985) 549-3536
Email:joreilly@selu.edu
Office Hours:as posted on office door
Teaching Expertise: Anatomy & Physiology;
Animal Physiology; Neurobiology; Animal Behavior
Links:Curriculum Vitae
Research Interests: Neurophysiology.
My broad interests are in the function of the nervous system,
mainly in humans. The human brain is comprised of roughly a
trillion (1,000,000,000,000) nerve cells, called neurons, that make
about a quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000) connections, called
synapses, with other neurons. By studying the function of
individual neurons and synapses, we can begin to understand the
behavior of neuronal circuits and systems. This information may
eventually lead us to an understanding of the underlying mechanisms
that produce the remarkable complexity and diversity of human
behavior.
Biophysics of Ion Channels. Normal function of excitable tissues
such as the nervous system is dependent on transmembrane proteins
called ion channels, and the the function of these ion channels is
dependent on normal molecular structure. Studying the function of
ion channels with altered or mutated structure provides an
understanding of the biophysical relationship between protein
molecular structure and physiological function. This information
can be directly related to heritable mutations that underly human
diseases such as epilepsy, myotonias, and sudden cardiac death.