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Dwight Edward Bergles, Ph.D.

Dwight Edward Bergles, Ph.D.

Headshot of Dwight Edward Bergles
  • Director, Multiphoton Imaging and Electrophysiology Core, The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience
  • Professor of Neuroscience

Research Interests

Glial involvement in neuronal signaling; Glutamate transporters in neuronal signaling; Synaptic physiology ...read more

Background

Dr. Dwight Bergles is a professor of neuroscience and otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research focuses on synaptic physiology. Dr. Bergles serves as the director of the Multiphoton Imaging and Electrophysiology Core at the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience.

His team is currently focused on glutamate transporters and glial involvement in neuronal signaling.

Dr. Bergles received his undergraduate degree in biology from Boston University. He earned his Ph.D. in molecular and cellular physiology from Stanford University. He completed postdoctoral training at the Vollum Institute for Advanced Biomedical Research at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. Dr. Bergles joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2000.

He is a member of the Society for Neuroscience and the Association for Research in Otolaryngology. His work has been recognized with several honors, including the NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation in 2005.

...read more

Titles

  • Director, Multiphoton Imaging and Electrophysiology Core, The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience
  • Professor of Neuroscience
  • Professor of Biomedical Engineering
  • Professor of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery

Departments / Divisions

Centers & Institutes

Education

Degrees

  • B.A.; Boston University (Massachusetts) (1990)
  • Ph.D.; Stanford University (California) (1995)

Additional Training

  • Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR, 2000

Research & Publications

Research Summary

Dr. Bergles is interested in understanding the mechanisms by which neurons and glial cells interact to support normal communication in the nervous system. Glutamate transporters are critical in the communication process.

Dr. Bergles' lab studies the properties of these glutamate transporters in expression systems as well as in acute tissue, such as the hippocampus and cerebellum.

Because transport is electrogenic, Dr. Bergles' lab can monitor transporter activity using electrophysiological (patch-clamp) techniques. Through these studies they hope to determine the fate of glutamate after it is released—how far it diffuses, the types and locations of the receptors it activates and the role of transporters in shaping its spatial and temporal profile in the extracellular space.

Transporters play a critical role in glutamate homeostasis, so understanding their function has relevance for numerous disorders, such as stroke, epilepsy and neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease).

Lab

Lab Website: Dwight Bergles Laboratory

Selected Publications

Hughes EG, Kang SH, Fukaya M, Bergles DE. "Oligodendrocyte progenitors balance growth with self-repulsion to achieve homeostasis in the adult brain." Nat Neurosci. 2013 Jun;16(6):668-76. doi: 10.1038/nn.3390. Epub 2013 Apr 28.

Kang SH, Li Y, Fukaya M, Lorenzini I, Cleveland DW, Ostrow LW, Rothstein JD, Bergles DE. "Degeneration and impaired regeneration of gray matter oligodendrocytes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis." Nat Neurosci. 2013 May;16(5):571-9. doi: 10.1038/nn.3357. Epub 2013 Mar 31.

Paukert M, Bergles DE. "Reduction of motion artifacts during in vivo two-photon imaging of brain through heartbeat triggered scanning." J Physiol. 2012 Jul 1;590(Pt 13):2955-63. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2012.228114. Epub 2012 Apr 16.

De Biase LM, Kang SH, Baxi EG, Fukaya M, Pucak ML, Mishina M, Calabresi PA, Bergles DE. "NMDA receptor signaling in oligodendrocyte progenitors is not required for oligodendrogenesis and myelination." J Neurosci. 2011 Aug 31;31(35):12650-62. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2455-11.2011.

Kang SH, Fukaya M, Yang JK, Rothstein JD, Bergles DE. "NG2+ CNS glial progenitors remain committed to the oligodendrocyte lineage in postnatal life and following neurodegeneration." Neuron. 2010 Nov 18;68(4):668-81. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2010.09.009.

Activities & Honors

Honors

  • March of Dimes Foundation, Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Award, 2002
  • Predoctoral Fellowship, National Science Foundation, 1992 - 1994
  • NIH Training Grant, Oregon Health & Science University, 1995 - 1998
  • Young Investigator Travel Fellow, Spring Brain Conference, 2004
  • NIH Training Grant, Stanford University, 1991
  • NARSAD Young Investigator Award, The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, 2005
  • Winter Conference on Brain Research Travel Fellow, 2002
  • Research Fellow, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation , 2002
  • Cancer Federation Award, 1990
  • Phi Beta Kappa, 1990

Memberships

  • Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO)
  • Society for Neuroscience

Professional Activities

  • External Advisory Board, Minnesota PPG Grant, 2009
  • External Thesis Examiner, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, 2006
  • Institutional Development Grant Program, North Carolina Biotechnology Center, 2007 - 2008
  • Operating Committee, The Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins, 2008
  • Reviewer, French National Research Agency (ANR), 2012
  • Reviewer, InterUniversity Attraction Poles, 2012
  • Reviewer, Motor Neurone Disease Association (England), 2010
  • Reviewer, Singapore Biomedical Research Council, 2008
  • Reviewer, Royal National Institute for the Deaf, 2006
  • Reviewer, NASA Biomedical Focused Flight ILS Initiative, 2004
  • Reviewer, The Wellcome Trust, 2004
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