Department of Physics

Faculty Description


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Research Statement
  • Active Sensation:
    This program addresses how the vibrissa sensorimotor system of rat extracts a stable world view through its actively moving sensors.

    Neocortical Microcirculation and Microinfarctions:
    This program explores the topology, dynamics, and neuronal control of cortical blood flow at the level of networks down to that of single capillaries.

    The Murine Angiotome:
    This program seeks a vectorized map of all blood vessels, anterioles, venules, and capillaries, and all cell bodies, both neuronal and nonneuronal, in the mouse brain.
Awards & News
  • Professor David Kleinfeld has been selected for the 2011 "Leica Scientific Forum -- Advances is Life Science"
  • This is an international interdisciplinary platform to present and discuss new scientific insight and knowledge of highly relevant themes within in the life sciences. This award is based on nomination by a German scientific advisory board and is completely funded by Leica Microsystems GmbH. Previous awardees include Roger Tsien and Mark Ellisman from UCSD. David will be giving his lecture in July, 2011.
  • Former project scientist Quoc Nguyen innovates at start-up

  • The Physics Department continues to drive the local San Diego economy through innovation. The latest example is NeurAccel, a La Jolla based start-up company that was founded by former Project Scientist Quoc Nguyen. NeurAccel offers a unique in vivo testing service for the efficacy of new pharmaceutical agents. The underlying technology was developed by Nguyen and then MD/PhD student Lee Schroeder in Prof. David Kleinfeld's laboratory* and is licensed to NeurAccel by UCSD. The continued advancement of this technology within the Department is funded by a grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse to Kleinfeld and his colleague Prof. Paul Slesinger at the Salk Institute.

    *An in vivo biosensor for neurotransmitter release and in situ receptor activity. Q.-T. Nguyen*, L. F. Schroeder*, M. Mank, A. Muller, P. W. Taylor, O. Griesbeck and D. Kleinfeld, Nature Neuroscience (2010) 13:127-132.

    Union Tribune Article: http://web.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/sep/05/window-into-the-brain/?ap

Selected Publications
  • - Reverse engineering an active sensory system: Circuitry and function in the rodent vibrissa sensorimotor control. D. Kleinfeld and M. Deschenes, invited review, in final preparation.

  • - Gigahertz photon counting and discrimination for two-photon microscopy. J. D. Driscoll, A. Y. Shih, G. A. White, Q.-T. Nguyen, P. S. Tsai, J. A. Squier, G. Cauwenberghs and D. Kleinfeld, in final preparation.

  • - Large-scale chronic imaging and optical manipulation of cortical cells through a polished and reinforced thinned-skull. P. J. Drew, A. Y. Shih, P. S. Tsai, P. Knutsen, D. Davalos, P. Blinder, K. Akassoglou and D. Kleinfeld, in final preparation.

  • - Optimizing the fluorescent yield in two-photon laser scanning microscopy. J. J. Field, R. Carriles, K. E. Sheetz, E. E. Hoover, E. V. Chandler, S. Tillo, T. E. Hughes, A. W. Sylvester, D. Kleinfeld and J. A. Squier, submitted.

  • - Topological basis for the robust distribution of blood to rodent neocortex. P. Blinder*, A. Y. Shih*, C. A. Rafie and D. Kleinfeld, under review.

  • - Automatic identification of fluorescently labeled brain cells for rapid functional imaging. I. Valmianski, A. Y. Shih, J. D. Driscoll, D. M. Matthews, Y. Freund and D. Kleinfeld, under review.

  • - A guide to delineate the logic of neurovascular signaling in the brain. D. Kleinfeld, P. Blinder, P. J. Drew, J. D. Driscoll, A. Muller, P. S. Tsai, I. Valmianski and A. Y. Shih, Frontiers in Neuroenergetics: Special Issue on Neurovascular Imaging (2010), in press. PDF (1.3 Mb)

  • - Correlations of neuronal and microvascular densities in murine cortex revealed by direct counting and colocalization of nuclei and vessels. P. S. Tsai, J. P. Kaufhold, P. Blinder, B. Friedman, P. J. Drew, H. J. Karten, P. D. Lyden and D. Kleinfeld, Journal of Neuroscience (2009) 29:14553-14570. PDF (6.4 Mb) Supplemental information. PDF (0.7 Mb)

  • - Severe blood brain barrier disruption and surrounding tissue injury. B. Chen, B. Friedman, Q. Cheng, P. S. Tsai, E. Schim, D. Kleinfeld and P. D. Lyden, Stroke (2009) 40:e666-674 PDF (1.4 Mb) journal cover based on article

  • - Glial response is an essential component of hypoxia-induced erythropoiesis. A. Weidemann, K. X. Knaup, C. A. Rafie, A. T. Boutin, C. Stockmann, N. Takeda, M. Scadeng, A. Y. Shih, V. H. Haase, M. C. Simon, D. Kleinfeld and R. S. Johnson, Journal of Clinical Investigations (2009) 119:3373-3383. PDF (4.1 Mb) Supplemental information. PDF (0.5 Mb)