John H. Schild, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering &
Biomedical Engineering Program

 

Office: 317-274-9747
Fax:
Email: jschild@iupui.edu
Professional web site: http://www.engr.iupui.edu/~jhs
 

    Dr. Schild received the B.S. (1983) and M.S. (1988) degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and a Ph.D. (1994) in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Rice University where he was a Shell Foundation Predoctoral Fellow. While at CWRU Dr. Schild worked as a design engineer in the Implantable Systems Group of the Rehabilitation Engineering Center. From 1988-91 he worked as a Biomedical Engineer in a clinical research facility studying residual motor and sensory function in individuals with traumatic nervous system disorders such as spinal cord and head injuries, stroke and multiple sclerosis. From 1994-96 he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Dept. of Physiology & Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Schild received an Individual National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health to further his training in experimental electrophysiology at Oregon Health Sciences University. Presently, Dr. Schild is with the Department of Electrical Engineering in the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology where he is an active member of the IUPUI Biomedical Engineering Program.
    Dr. Schild's lab is studying the sensory mechanisms that regulate the heart and the circulation. An essential aspect of this research is a biophysical and analytical appreciation for how sensory neurons and synaptically coupled neural circuits both encode and "process" cardiovascular information such as blood pressure and heart rate. Experimental techniques range  rom the reductive such as patch-clamp recordings using enzymatically dispersed sensory neurons and synaptically coupled neurons in thin slices of brainstem tissue to the integrative such as whole animal baroreceptor reflex recordings. In addition, computational techniques such as neuronal modeling and nonlinear systems analysis are used to provide a conceptual framework with which to interpret experimental observations and organize future studies. Students from the life sciences and Biomedical Engineering have opportunities to apply experimental and computational methodologies to study the sensory mechanisms underlying neurocirculatory control. Dr. Schild's current support includes a Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association.

Publications:

1. J.H. Schild and D.L. Kunze (1997) An Experimental and Modeling Study of Na+ Current Heterogeneity in Rat Nodose Neurons and Its Impact on Neuronal Discharge. Journal of Neurophysiology, Vol. 78, 3198-3209, 1997

2. J.H. Schild, J.W. Clark, C.C. Canavier, D.L. Kunze and M.C.  Andresen (1995) Afferent Synaptic Drive of Rat Medial Nucleus Tractus  Solitarius Neurons: Dynamic Simulation of Graded Vesicular  Mobilization, Release and non-NMDA Receptor Kinetics. Journal of  Neurophysiology, 74(4):1529-1547.

3. J.H. Schild, J.W. Clark, H. Hay, D. Mendelowitz, M.C. Andresen and D.L. Kunze (1995) A- and C-type Rat Nodose Sensory Neurons:  Model Interpretations of Dynamic Discharge Characteristics. Journal  of Neurophysiology, 72:2338-2358.

4. J.H. Schild, S. Khushalani, J.W. Clark, D.L. Kunze, M.C. Andresen  and M. Yang (1993) An Ionic Current Model for Neurons in the Rat Medial  Nucleus Tractus Solitarius Receiving Sensory Afferent Input. Journal of  Physiology, 469:341-363.

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