Professional profile
I am a northern girl raised in central Minnesota and the UP of Michigan. Loving the cold, snowy winter I went to Northern Michigan University and majored in biochemistry. As an undergraduate I spent six months studying British history and culture in the Duke of Northumberland’s castle, made famous as the setting for the Harry Potter movies. I also spent a summer in China.

Upon graduation I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I applied to and was accepted as the first graduate student in the new Master of Chemistry program at Northern Michigan University. This gave me my first experience as a teaching assistant. I loved teaching and decided to get a Ph.D. So I went off to the beautiful Pacific Northwest and earned my Ph.D. in bioanalytical chemistry at Washington State University working with Jim Schenk.

I continued my education with a three-year post doc in the physiology department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison working in the lab of Edwin Chapman. Eager to finally make some money, I took a job at a biotech company in Madison. After a year I decided it was time to teach. I came to St. Norbert College four years ago and love teaching. At St. Norbert College I teach biochemistry I and II and quantitative and instrumental analysis. I am married and have two daughters, Audrey and Violet. I love any outdoor activity.

Location: John Minahan Science Hall
Room: 408
Phone: (920) 403-3206
Fax: (920) 403-4033

Mailing address:
St. Norbert College
100 Grant Street
JMS, 408
De Pere, WI 54115-2099

cynthia.ochsner@snc.edu

Academic credentials:
B.S., Northern Michigan University
M.S., Washington State University
Ph.D., Washington State University
Postdoc., University of Wisconsin-Madison

Courses taught:
CHEM 211 Quantitative Analysis
CHEM 312 Instrumental Analysis
CHEM 350 Biochemistry 1
CHEM 351 Biochemistry 2

Research interests:
I am interested in two related aspects of neuronal communication. The first is the protein-protein interactions that mediate Ca2+ triggered exocytosis of neurotransmitters from pre-synaptic cells. The second is the inhibition of neurotransmitter transporters, proteins that function to transport released neurotransmitters back into the pre-synaptic cell. These phenomena are related; exocytosis releases neurotransmitters that diffuse across the synaptic cleft and bind specifically to receptors on an adjacent post-synaptic cell thus sending a signal. The duration and intensity of this signal is partially controlled by specific integral membrane proteins, transporters, located on the pre-synaptic cell which remove neurotransmitters from the synaptic cleft thus ‘turning off’ the signal. Neurotransmitter transporters are the sites in the brain where drugs of abuse such as cocaine and amphetamine, and therapeutics such as Ritalin and some antidepressants (e.g. Prozac) bind. These drugs and therapeutics alter the duration of the neurotransmitter signal by inhibiting neurotransmitter reuptake.

To study these events we use traditional recombinant protein binding assays and cultured cell models. The release and uptake of neurotransmitters are measured in real time using rotating disk electrode voltammetry (RDEV). RDEV is used because the tyrosine-derived neurotransmitters (e.g. dopamine and norepinephrine) are electroactive and the signal detected at the electrode surface is directly proportional to the extracellular concentration of neurotransmitter. Therefore plots of extracellular neurotransmitter concentration versus time are generated and the rates of release or uptake can be easily measured under a variety of conditions.