Mark Rasenick
Co-Founder, President & Chief Scientific Officer
pharmaceutical sciences
neuroscience
United States of America
Biography
Dr. Rasenick’s work is focused on G protein signaling in the nervous system and the relationship of neurotransmitter activation to rapid modification of the cytoskeleton. He has been particularly interested in how G proteins and the cytoskeleton work in concert to modify synaptic shape and to form a molecular basis for depression and the action of antidepressant drugs. The most recent work from his group is the basis for a blood test indicating depression and therapeutic response to antidepressant therapy. The science in Dr. Rasenick’s lab has been funded, continuously since 1984, by the NIMH. He has also been funded by other federal agencies (NIDA, NIA, NIAD, NSF, DOD) and by industry sources. He is principal investigator of an NIMH training grant, “Training in the Neuroscience of Mental Health”, which supports graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the neurosciences. He serves on many scientific review panels (NIH, NSF, DOD), and editorial boards and is the author of numerous publications. Dr. Rasenick has received honors both for teaching and research, including the Searle Young Faculty Award from the Chicago Community Trust, the University Scholar Award and Distinguished Faculty Award from the University of Illinois, a Research Scientist Award from the NIMH, and a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship from the Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Sciences. He is an elected fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Research Interest