Murphy, Timothy

 
Dr. Tim Murphy
Academic Information
Degrees/Credentials

PhD 1989 and PDF 1994, Johns Hopkins University

Titles

Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UBC

 

Biography

Tim Murphy is a basic scientist who contributes to understanding of how mouse cortex adapts after stroke, resulting in remapping of brain function from damaged to surviving areas using mouse models. The lab develops new imaging and optogenetic methods that have parallels to human brain imaging and stimulation tools.  In developing these tools that laboratory participates in the Canadian Neurophotonics Platform and leads UBC’s Dynamic Brain Circuits in Health and Disease Cluster which actively seeks to articulate new optical methods that are applied to questions related to diseases of the nervous system.  Murphy has been a past instructor in the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Imaging Neurons and Neural Activity course and UBC’s 3D-microscopy courses.  By understanding the stroke recovery process on a circuit level, the lab hopes to advance patient translatable brain stimulation or other plasticity-inducing treatments.  More recently the laboratory has extended these approaches to mouse models of psychiatric disorders such as depression and autism. To facilitate circuit interrogation in vivo the lab develops high-throughput models which automate animal imaging.

Murphy Lab media highlights

Using light to probe and facilitate sensory and motor circuit recovery after stroke (The Globe and Mail).

Stroke damage occurs begins in less than 3 minutes (Science Daily).

Commentary on Ron Frostig's lab's work using sensory stimulation to restore blood flow (Neurology Today).

The Human Connectome Project: "A big brainstorm is on the horizon in neuroscience"  (The Globe and Mail).

Contact Information
Email
tim.murphy@ubc.ca
Phone
604-822-0705
Fax
604-822-7981
Mailing Address

Detwiller Pavilion 2255 Wesbrook Mall Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 2A1

Website
Murphy Lab website
Social Media
Twitter
https://twitter.com/vangreenmouse
LinkedIn
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/tim-murphy-660b875
Publications
Google Scholar
Research Information
Research Summary

General areas of research:

Structure-function of brain circuits in relation to stroke. High resolution imaging of individual synapses and sensorimotor circuits in live mice to provide insight into mechanisms of initial stroke damage and stroke recovery. We are currently focusing on understanding how sensory and motor circuits compensate after stroke.

CNS synaptic plasticity/physiology mesoscale level: in vivo imaging of synaptic interactions and sensorimotor processing, novel brain mapping procedures using optogenetics.

Automated mouse brain imaging and brain stimulation: we develop models of neurological and psychiatric disease that employ internet enabled mouse homecages that are used to manipulate and assess brain activty. 

 

Research Areas
strokedepressionneuroplasticityimagingbasic science
Personnel
Current lab members
  • Frederico Bolanos: graduate student; chief cage-builder (federico@alumni.ubc.ca)
  • Blair Jovellar: graduate student; mouse brain stimulation (blair.jovellar@gmail.com)
  • Matilde Balbi: postdoctoral fellow; motor function in acute/chronic stroke (matilde.balbi@hotmail.it)
  • Matthieu Vanni: postdoctoral fellow; cellular intracortical mapping parcellation and relation to function (mvanni76@gmail.com)
  • Jamie Boyd: software developer and systems neuroscience oracle; automated brain mapping development data acquisition software, guides lab decisions regarding experimental design and logic (jamie.boyd@ubc.ca)
  • Allen W. Chan: postdoctoral fellow; mesoscale imaging and models of psychiatric disorders (awchan@interchange.ubc.ca)
  • Xiao-Yan "Cindy" Jiang: lab technician; surgery tech, animal colony manager (ruishu@interchange.ubc.ca)
  • Omid: graduate student; autoweighing system
  • Greg Silasi: postdoctoral fellow; homecage assessment of motor function and all things stroke (greg.silasi@ubc.ca)
  • Dongsheng Xiao: postdoctoral fellow; spike-triggered mapping (dongsheng_xiao@sina.com)
  • Catalin Mitelut: graduate student; spike-triggered mapping and LFP (mitelutco@gmail.com)
  • Pumin Wang: lab technician; surgery tech, legendary maker of giant craniootomy (pumin_wang@hotmail.com)
  • Jeff LeDue: optics technician; builds new imaging and brain stimulation tools (jledue@interchange.ubc.ca)
Lab alumni
Current Opportunities

PDF and Graduate students wanted, automated in vivo imaging and optogenetics in mouse cortex.

The Murphy lab at the University of British Columbia is looking for both graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to join a dynamic research team focused on the function of mouse cortex in both normal brain as well as models of stroke and neuropsychiatric disorders.http://www.neuroscience.ubc.ca/faculty/murphy.html

 Applicants should have experience in quantitative methods and computer programming and/or behavioral neuroscience.  Software systems include both data acquisition and analysis using Python or/and Matlab. Current projects evolve around automated brain imaging using mouse home cages. The lab has a fully equipped maker space with a 3D printer and electronics and other hardware fabrication facilities. Future work includes integration of behavioral tasks, including go-, no-go- and fine motor control with automated brain imaging and optogenetic stimulation or inhibition. Projects are focused around two major disease areas, which include stroke and mouse models of neuropsychiatric disorders. The laboratory is part of the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health and the Graduate Program in Neuroscience. These entities form a vibrant research community. Applicants are encouraged to apply directly to Tim Murphy and after an initial application are expected to include 3 letters of reference plus an undergraduate and graduate transcript. Salary and stipends are consistent with Canadian granting standards.

Please write: thmurphy@mail.ubc.ca.