Dr. Kevin D. Phelan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR. He received his PhD in Anatomy from Michigan State University and had postdoctoral training in the Departments of Pharmacology at the University of Texas Medical Branch and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and in the Department of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania. His research includes studying the physiology and pharmacology of normal synaptic transmission as a basis for understanding dysfunction that may occur in various neurological diseases. Standard electrophysiological methodologies, including intracellular, extracellular field potential and patch clamp recording are used to examine mechanisms underlying synaptic transmission between developing and adult neurons in tissue culture and rodent brain slice models. Current interests include: presynaptic and postsynaptic mechanisms of modulation of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic events, the contribution of intrinsic membrane properties and conductances to neuronal excitability, mechanisms of epileptogenesis and seizure induced neurodegeneration, and the effects of alcohol on the CNS throughout the lifespan.
