Biography

Tod Kippin earned a BSc and a MA in Biopsychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Dr. Kippin completed his PhD in Psychology (2000) at the Centre for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada where he received the Stanley G. French Convocation Award. Dr. Kippin conducted post-doctoral research in the Department of Medical Genetics and Microbiology at the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and in the Department of Physiology and Neuroscience at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Prior to taking joining the faculty in the Department of Psychological & Brain sciences at UCSB in 2004, Dr. Kippin has lectured in the Department of Psychology at Concordia University and for the Michener Institute at University of Toronto. DR. Kippin will be in residency at UCSB starting in Spring, 2005.

Research Area

One of the most remarkable characteristics of the mammalian nervous system is its tremendous plasticity allowing seemingly limitless behavioral adaptability to environmental circumstances. My research interests lie in understanding the parameters that govern the action of cellular components of the nervous system that produce coordinated behavioral, endocrine, and cognitive processes. The focus of my current research is the functional consequences of and mechanisms that govern neurogenesis in the adult mammalian brain. The subventricular zone of the adult brain contains neural stem cells that are capable of producing extensive neurogenesis in the olfactory bulb and hippocampus; other neural precursor cells appear to generate limited neurogenesis in the striatum, cortex, and amygdala. Current understanding of the control and importance of neurogenesis in the adult brain is limited. However, emerging functional studies demonstrate that new cells are important to the function of both the olfactory bulb and the hippocampus. Further, neurogenesis is regulated by the same chemical messages used as neurotransmitters and hormones. Accordingly, I am interested in the mechanisms that maintain neural stem cells in the adult brain and the functional purpose of their progeny. Further, there is increasing evidence supporting the notion that neural stem cells and neurogenesis are involved in psychiatric disorders. A number of recent studies have implicated increased neurogenesis in mechanisms of antidepressant and antipsychotic drug action and altered neurogenesis in animal models of psychiatric disorders. Thus, a major part of my research investigates the potential role of neural stem cells in the expression of or vulnerability to psychopathology. To investigate these phenomena, my laboratory employs a variety of behavioral assays, transgenic mouse models, tissue culture, pcr (polymerase chain reaction) for DNA and RNA, immunocytochemistry, and Western blotting.