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Brad Morrison, Ph.D.

Dr. Morrison in the lab

Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences

Dept of Biological Sciences
Year arrived at BSU: 2013

Mailing Address:
Dept of Biological Sciences
Boise State University
1910 University Dr
Boise, ID 83725-1515

Office Location: Science Building, Room 132
Lab Location: Science Building, Room 411
Office Number: 208-426-3201
Office Fax: 208-426-1040

E-Mail Address: bradmorrison@boisestate.edu

ACADEMIC DEGREES

  • Ph.D. Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Texas at Dallas, 2006
  • B.S. Microbiology, University of Texas in Austin, 2000

TEACHING

  • ZOOL 400/500 Vertebrate Histology
  • BIOL 343 Genetics
  • BIOL 497/597 The Pathophysiology of Neurodegenerative Disease

AWARDS

  • R15 award, National Institutes of Health, 2016
  • Top Ten Scholar Honored Faculty, Boise State University, 2015

RESEARCH INTERESTS

The clinical motor features of Parkinson’s disease (PD) arise from loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigral region of the brain.  However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this neuronal loss are currently unknown.  As a result, no effective treatments exist that address neurodegeneration in PD.  My lab’s interest is in understanding the contributions of stem cell activity, autophagy dysfunction, and heightened inflammatory response to neuronal loss in PD so that targeted therapies can be developed.

PUBLICATIONS

Love, J.E., Day, R.J., Gause, J.W., Brown, R.J., Pu, X., Theis, D.I., Caraway, C.A., Poon, W.W., Rahman, A.A., Morrison, B.E., Rohn, T.T. (2017) Nuclear uptake of an amino-terminal fragment of apolipoprotein E4 promotes cell death and localizes within microglia of the Alzheimer’s disease brain. Int J Physiol Pathophysiol Pharmacol 9(2):40-57.

Morrison, B.E. (2016) Discovery of nigral dopaminergic neurogenesis in adult mice. Neural Regeneration Research, 11(6):878-81. PMID: 27482200

Albright, J.E., Stojkovska, I., Rahman, A.A., Brown, C.J., Morrison, B.E. (2016) Nestin-positive/SOX2-negative cells mediate adult neurogenesis of nigral dopaminergic neurons in mice. Neuroscience Letters. 615: 50-54. PMID: 26806039

Eschbach, J., von Einem, B., Müller, K., Bayer, H., Scheffold, A., Morrison, B.E., Rudolph, K.L., Thal, D.R., Witting, A., Weydt, P., Otto, M., Fauler, M., Liss, B., McLean, P.J., La Spada, A.R., Ludolph, A.C., Weishaupt, J.H., Danzer, K.M. (2015) Mutual exacerbation of PGC-1α deregulation and α-synuclein oligomerization. Annals of Neurology. 77(1):15-32. PMID: 25363075

Stojkovska, I., Wagner, B., and Morrison, B.E. (2015) Parkinson’s disease and enhanced inflammatory response. Experimental Biology and Medicine. Nov;240(11):1387-95. PMID: 25769314

Dubinsky, A., Dastidar, S., Hsu, C., Zahra, R., Djakovic, S., Duarte, S., Esau, C., Spencer, B., Ashe, T., Fische, K., MacKenna, D., Sopher, B., Masliah, E., Gaasterland, T., Chau, B.N., Pereira de Almeida, L., Morrison, B.E., La Spada, A.R. (2014) Let-7 coordinately suppresses components of the amino acid sensing pathway to induce autophagy. Cell Metabolism. 20(4):626-38. PMID: 25295787

Morrison, B.E.#, Marcondes, M.C.#, Nomura, D.K., Sanchez-Alavez, M., Sanchez-Gonzelez, A., Saar, I., Kim, K.S., Bartfai, T., Maher, P., Sugama, S., Conti, B. (2012) IL-13Rα1 expression in dopaminergic neurons contributes to their oxidative stress–mediated loss following chronic systemic treatment with lipopolysaccharide. The Journal of Immunology (Cutting Edge article) 189(12):5498-502. PMID: 23169588

Tsunemi T., Ashe T.D., Morrison, B.E., Soriano K.R., Au J., Roque R.A., Lazarowski E.R., Damian V.A., Masliah E., La Spada A.R., et al. (2012) PGC-1α rescues Huntington’s disease proteotoxicity by preventing oxidative stress and promoting TFEB function. Science translational medicine 4(142):142ra97. PMID: 22786682

Nomura, D.K.#, Morrison, B.E.#, Blankman, J.L., Long, J.Z., Kinsey, S.G., Marcondes, M.C., Ward, A.M., Hahn, Y.K., Lichtman, A.H., Conti, B., et al. (2011) Endocannabinoid hydrolysis generates brain prostaglandins that promote neuroinflammation. Science 334:809-813. PMID: 22021672

Klein, I., Sanchez-Alavez, M., Tabarean, I., Schaefer, J., Holmberg, K.H., Klaus, J., Xia, F., Marcondes, M.C., Dubins, J.S., Morrison, B., et al. (2011) AdipoR1 and 2 are expressed on warm sensitive neurons of the hypothalamic preoptic area and contribute to central hyperthermic effects of adiponectin. Brain research 1423:1-9. PMID: 22000082

Osborn, O., Sanchez-Alavez, M., Dubins, J.S., Gonzalez, A.S., Morrison, B., Hadcock, J.R., and Bartfai, T. (2011) Ccl22/MDC, is a prostaglandin dependent pyrogen, acting in the anterior hypothalamus to induce hyperthermia via activation of brown adipose tissue. Cytokine 53:311-319. PMID: 21177120

Tabarean, I., Morrison, B., Marcondes, M.C., Bartfai, T., and Conti, B. (2010) Hypothalamic and dietary control of temperature-mediated longevity. Ageing research reviews 9:41-50. PMID: 19631766

Pfister, J.A., Ma, C., Morrison, B.E., and D’Mello, S.R. (2008) Opposing effects of sirtuins on neuronal survival: SIRT1-mediated neuroprotection is independent of its deacetylase activity. PloS one 3:e4090. PMID: 19116652

Morrison, B.E. and D’Mello, S.R. (2008) Polydactyly in mice lacking HDAC9/HDRP. Experimental biology and medicine 233:980-988. PMID: 18480421

Majdzadeh, N., Morrison, B.E., and D’Mello, S.R. (2008) Class IIA HDACs in the regulation of neurodegeneration. Frontiers in bioscience : a journal and virtual library 13:1072-1082. PMID: 17981613

Majdzadeh, N., Wang, L., Morrison, B.E., Bassel-Duby, R., Olson, E.N., and D’Mello, S.R. (2008) HDAC4 inhibits cell-cycle progression and protects neurons from cell death. Developmental neurobiology 68:1076-1092. PMID: 18498087

Morrison, B.E., Majdzadeh, N., and D’Mello, S.R. (2007) Histone deacetylases: focus on the nervous system. Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS 64:2258-2269. PMID: 17530170

Morrison, B.E., Majdzadeh, N., Zhang, X., Lyles, A., Bassel-Duby, R., Olson, E.N., and D’Mello, S.R. (2006) Neuroprotection by histone deacetylase-related protein. Molecular and cellular biology 26:3550-3564. PMID: 16611996

Johnson, K., Liu, L., Majdzadeh, N., Chavez, C., Chin, P.C., Morrison, B., Wang, L., Park, J., Chugh, P., Chen, H.M., et al. (2005) Inhibition of neuronal apoptosis by the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor GW8510: identification of 3′ substituted indolones as a scaffold for the development of neuroprotective drugs. Journal of neurochemistry 93:538-548. PMID: 15836613

Chin, P.C., Liu, L., Morrison, B.E., Siddiq, A., Ratan, R.R., Bottiglieri, T., and D’Mello, S.R. (2004) The c-Raf inhibitor GW5074 provides neuroprotection in vitro and in an animal model of neurodegeneration through a MEK-ERK and Akt-independent mechanism. Journal of neurochemistry 90:595-608. PMID: 15255937

Morrison, B.E., Park, S.J., Mooney, J.M., and Mehrad, B. (2003) Chemokine-mediated recruitment of NK cells is a critical host defense mechanism in invasive aspergillosis. The Journal of clinical investigation 112:1862-1870. PMID: 14679181

Mehrad, B., Wiekowski, M., Morrison, B.E., Chen, S.C., Coronel, E.C., Manfra, D.J., and Lira, S.A. (2002) Transient lung-specific expression of the chemokine KC improves outcome in invasive aspergillosis. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 166:1263-1268. PMID: 12403697

#co-first authorship