Faculty Profile | Peter Shrager, PhD

Peter Shrager, PhD, is a professor of Neuroscience and Pharmacology & Physiology at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). He received his undergraduate degrees in liberal arts and electrical engineering at Columbia, PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, and completed his postdoctoral research in physiology and immunology at Duke University. In 1971, Shrager came to URMC to work in the Department of Physiology. His research interest is in axonal conduction, particularly ion channel structure, function, and localization—with a special focus on the interaction between neurons and glial cells resulting in myelination.

What led you to neuroscience?

As an undergraduate, while I studied electrical engineering, I found my interest shifting to biomedical research. At UC Berkeley, I switched from engineering to the biophysics program. My research focused on conduction in giant axons of an invertebrate, the crayfish. In those days, we knew that voltage-dependent ion channels were at the root of excitability, but we had no idea how they were built or how they worked. I combined protein physical chemistry and electrophysiology to do some very early investigations in this area.

What brought you to the University of Rochester?

In 1971, I was recruited to the UR by Paul Horowicz, PhD, a muscle electrophysiologist who had just become chair of Physiology here. Horowicz rapidly built a team interested in ion channels and related areas, making UR internationally known in the field. The atmosphere was incredibly interactive and supportive and fostered some real innovation. It was an era prior to the cloning of ion channels, but major results came from combinations of electrical and chemical approaches. In those days, we had to design and build the equipment ourselves. My UR colleague, Clay Armstrong, PhD, and I were among the first electrophysiologists to utilize computers to run experiments and analyze data in neuroscience.

How has your research evolved?

For the first 20 years at UR, my research focused on structure-function in ion channels. I then became interested in ion channel localization. We used novel approaches in electrophysiology to probe channel distribution, then turned to optical recording techniques, making it possible to follow signals propagating along single axons. It led us to an analysis of conduction in pathological situations, such as segmental demyelination, as it occurs in multiple sclerosis and Guillain-Barre syndrome. We have since investigated many associated phenomena in both normal development and pathological situations and have expanded our interests to several other ion channel types. Today, our research is largely collaborative. We are working with James Salzer, MD, PhD, at NYU, to investigate a key transcription factor necessary for myelination and the clinical conditions that result from changes in its expression. I also work with several people at UR; it’s an atmosphere I have found to be conducive to collaboration.

Your reputation with students precedes you. How do you connect and engage with students?

I have always enjoyed teaching. It has always been in my life; my father was a teacher. When I first came to Rochester, I taught medical and graduate students. Today, I teach graduate students. My approach has always been fundamentally the same. I teach students to analyze cellular phenomena through problem-solving rather than rote memorization. I use this approach because I believe it is the only way to learn how electrical signaling works. I am also responsible for the course Biology of Neurological Disorders, which Robert Joynt, MD, PhD, the founder and former chair of Neurology, and dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry began. In each session we cover a different neurological disorder or developmental disease state from three angles—clinical, basic pathophysiology, and peer-reviewed research. It is rewarding to see how the experience benefits our students. I find that our students are exceptional in their ability to learn and conduct research in neuroscience.

Peter Shrager, PhD (right), with former students, Matthew Rasband, PhD (left), professor of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine; Ekaterina (Katya) K. Noyes, PhD (center), professor and director, Division of Health Services Policy and Practice, University at Buffalo.