Unlocking the Brain: How LSU Vet Med is forging new pathways in neuroscience

The brain is often called the body’s final frontier—a dense, electrified network that shapes who we are, how we act, and how we heal. At the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, researchers and clinicians are working together to explore that frontier from every angle. What sets LSU apart is the breadth of expertise gathered under one roof: scientists probing molecular mysteries, veterinarians developing life-changing therapies, and clinicians translating discoveries into treatments for beloved pets.

It’s a vibrant ecosystem where questions about brain health—human or animal—seek and find answers.

When the environment rewires the brain

For Dr. Ahmed Abdelmoneim, the brain’s earliest moments of development are also its most vulnerable. In his lab, zebrafish—tiny, translucent creatures whose brains light up under a microscope—reveal how environmental contaminants like lead alter the stress-response system. His discoveries hold profound implications for children growing up in polluted communities, as well as for animals exposed to toxins in soil and water.

Searching for freedom from addiction

Down the hall, Dr. Ethan Anderson zeroes in on the brain’s reward center, a structure called the nucleus accumbens. His team studies how addiction reshapes this region, rewiring it to crave substances like alcohol or opioids. By finding ways to reverse those changes, Anderson is pioneering therapies that could one day free those trapped in the cycle of dependence.

Hearing the world, understanding the mind

For Dr. Charles Lee, the brain is a symphony. His lab investigates how we process sound—how the brain weaves together voices, music, and the buzz of daily life. This research not only explains the marvel of hearing but also provides insights into conditions like autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease, where that symphony falters.

How Today’s Choices Shape Tomorrow’s Brains

What we eat, how we move, even the air we breathe—these choices ripple through our brains and, as Dr. Alexander Murashov has discovered, leave lasting marks on the next generation. Using fruit flies, his lab shows how diet and environment reprogram brain metabolism through epigenetic changes, predisposing offspring to neurological and metabolic disorders. His work underscores a powerful truth: brain health is not only about us, but about those who come after us.

Cracking the code of memory and decision-making

Dr. Michael Ogundele explores one of the brain’s most captivating puzzles: how we learn, remember, and decide. His team studies how reward-related brain regions and the hippocampus work together to assign value to new experiences. By mapping these pathways, Ogundele’s research offers insights into disorders where decision-making goes awry, from Alzheimer’s disease to schizophrenia.

At the crossroads of trauma and degeneration

For Dr. Fabio Vigil, the mysteries lie where traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s disease overlap. His lab focuses on potassium channels—tiny molecular gates that regulate electrical activity in neurons. By studying how these channels malfunction after injury, Vigil is developing strategies to protect the brain from long-term decline.

From lab bench to operating table

Discovery is not the whole story at LSU Vet Med. In the hospital, clinical neurologists bring this expertise directly to patients. Dr. Colleen Embersics specializes in brain and spinal surgery, canine epilepsy, and cutting-edge therapies like ultrasound and 3D-printed surgical implants. Her work pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in veterinary neurology.

Scientists studying molecular signaling are working steps away from clinicians solving the medical puzzles of patients. 

One roof, many perspectives

What makes LSU Vet Med exceptional is the way this expertise converges. Scientists studying molecular signaling are working steps away from clinicians solving the real-world medical puzzles of patients. Together, they create a cycle of innovation that accelerates discovery and care.

From zebrafish to fruit flies, from advanced imaging to delicate brain surgery, LSU Vet Med’s neuroscience enterprise is emerging as a powerful hub for neuroscience at LSU. The questions they ask—and the answers they uncover—matter not just for the animals who come through the hospital doors, but for human families, communities, and future generations.

At LSU Vet Med, unlocking the brain is not a solitary pursuit. It’s a shared mission to understand, heal, and protect one of nature’s greatest mysteries.