R. Suzanne Zukin is an American neuroscientist and a professor of neuroscience who directs a research lab as a F. M. Kirby Chair in Neural Repair and Protection and director of the Neuropsychopharmacology Center at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
[2][3][4][5][6] After receiving a bachelor's degree from Bryn Mawr College in 1970,[7] Zukin started her path as a molecular biologist with an understanding of protein structure-function relationships while working on her doctoral dissertation with Donald P. Hollis at Johns Hopkins Medical School.
[8] She subsequently pursued postdoctoral work with Daniel E. Koshland Jr. at UC Berkeley where she investigated ligand binding and conformational changes in sensory receptors.
[12] Elevated expression of proteins in this pathway are causally related to reduced activity of the actin depolymerizing factor Cofilin, a major determinant of dendritic spine morphology.
Kirby Chair in Neural Repair and Protection[9] Director of the Neurophsycopharmacology Center at Albert Einstein College of Medicine[10] Standing member of the NIH Study Section on Neural Oxidative Metabolism and Death for the National Institute for Neurologic Disorders & Stroke[14] 2014 Brain and Behavior Research Foundation Distinguished Investigator award for "REST-dependent epigenetic remodeling of NMDA receptors as a risk factor in schizophrenia.