Nobis Lab
Principal Investigator: William Paul Nobis
Institution: Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, TN)
Primary Subfield: Neuroscience
Recruitment Status: ✅ Accepting PhD Students ✅ Hiring Postdocs
Research Focus
Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is the most common cause of death in patients with refractory epilepsy. Currently, it is impossible to predict or prevent SUDEP. However, SUDEPs that have occurred in monitored settings were characterized by hypoventilation and apnea prior to cardiac dysfunction, implicating seizure-related respiratory dysfunction as a critical factor. Human intracranial data suggests the amygdala as a forebrain structure that may be important for respiratory control and involved in seizure-related respiratory dysfunction. Understanding the neural circuit mechanisms involving amygdalar structures that underlies seizure-related respiratory dysfunction that leads to hypoventilation and death is critical to advancing SUDEP prevention options, which currently do not exist. Our long-term goal is to identify the neural circuits underlying seizure-related respiratory dysfunction to predict and prevent sudden death. The main objective of the proposed project is to delineate brainstem projecting extended amygdalar neurons involved in seizure-related respiratory dysfunction and arrest. Preliminary data in a mouse model of SUDEP show that the extended amygdalar stru…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01NS133169-04: The role of brainstem projecting extended amygdala neurons in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (2026)
- 5R01NS133169-03: The role of brainstem projecting extended amygdala neurons in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (2025)
- 5R01NS133169-02: The role of brainstem projecting extended amygdala neurons in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (2024)
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