Profile for Douglas Brusich
Contact me
Douglas Brusich
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Assistant Professor
Biology
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Douglas Brusich Pronouns: He/Him/His
Assistant Professor
Biology
Specialty area(s)
Areas of Expertise: Neuroscience, Drosophila (fruit flies), Traumatic Brain Injury, Epilepsy/Seizure Disorders, Genetics
Research Synopsis:
My lab uses fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) to study the genetics and molecular biology underlying traumatic brain injury (TBI) and epilepsy (seizures). Past projects advanced a model of TBI and characterized mortality across multiple levels of injury severity and for repetitive, mild TBI (rmTBI). We have since moved into investigating the mechanism responsible for a pronounced increase in death following rmTBI that exceeds what you would predict from simply adding multiple mild TBI events together. We have also looked at a specific pathway, the linker of nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton (LINC) complex, that senses mechanical stress, bridges to nuclear regulation, and is associated with post-traumatic seizures in our model.
The lab is also balancing three main epilepsy projects:
1) We are using genetic tools to identify the gene responsible for seizures in the bang-sensitive 1 fly mutant. 2) We are investigating dietary, genetic, and microbiome factors that alter seizure behavior in the para(Shudderer) mutant. 3) We are using molecular assays to assess alternative splicing of the para(smellblind-2) mutant which is capable of suppressing seizure behavior in various seizure-prone mutants.
Research Availability: My lab is currently at capacity for Fall 2024. Please inquire about spring 2025 or later semesters!
Current courses at UWL
BIO 313: Human Anatomy and Physiology II
BIO 313L: Human Anatomy and Physiology II Lab
Education
B.S. Saint Ambrose University (Davenport, IA)
Ph.D. University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA)
Research Fellow - FUTURE Program: University of Iowa
Career
Professional history
2022-2024 Associate Professor - Human Biology Department - UW-Green Bay (Green Bay, WI)
2017-2022 Assistant Professor - Human Biology Department - UW-Green Bay (Green Bay, WI)
2015-2017 Visiting Assistant Professor - Biology Department - Wartburg College (Waverly, IA)
Research and publishing
* = shared first-authorship, # = undergraduate student author, @ = corresponding author
Mallik B, Brusich DJ@, Heyrman G, Frank CA. 2023. Precise mapping of one classic and three novel GluRIIA mutants in Drosophila melanogaster. MicroPubl Biol. 10.17912/micropub.biology.000784
Krcmarik TR*#, Willes AM*#, Yang A#, Weber S#, Brusich DJ@. 2023. Fruit flies subjected to TBI exhibit genotype-dependent changes in seizure incidence and duration. BIOS. 94(2): 79-84. 10.1893/BIOS-D-21-00027
Willes AM*#, Krcmarik TR*#, Daughtry AE*#, Brusich DJ . 2021. Repetitive mild traumatic brain injury causes synergistic effects on mortality. MicroPubl Biol. 10.17912/micropub.biology.000356.
Putnam LJ*#, Willes AM*#, Kalata BE*#, Disher ND*#, Brusich DJ@. 2019. Expansion of a fly TBI model to four levels of injury severity reveals synergistic effects of repetitive injury for moderate injury conditions. Fly. Sep 15:1-11. doi: 10.1080/19336934.2019.1664363.
Brusich DJ, Spring AM, James TD, Yeates CJ, Helms TH, Frank CA@. 2018. Drosophila CaV2 channels harboring human migraine mutations cause synapse hyperexcitability that can be suppressed by inhibition of a Ca2+ store release pathway. PLoS Genetics. 14(8): e1007577.
Spring AM, Brusich DJ, Frank CA@. 2016. C-terminal Src Kinase gates homeostatic synaptic plasticity and regulates Fasciclin II expression at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction. PLOS Genetics. 2(2):e1005886
Brusich DJ*, Spring AM*, Frank CA@. 2015. A single-cross, RNA interference-based genetic tool for examining the long-term maintenance of homeostatic plasticity. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. 9:107