Daniel Spergel, PhD

Daniel obtained an A.B. in biophysics at Columbia University in New York City, where he studied neural development, followed by a Ph.D. in physiology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he studied carotid body oxygen chemoreception, and postdoctoral training at both the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, and the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research (MPIMF) in Heidelberg, Germany, where he investigated the modulation by the neurotransmitters GABA and glutamate of the electrical activity, intracellular calcium concentration, and GnRH secretion of GnRH neurons controlling reproduction. At the MPIMF, Daniel helped generate the first successful transgenic GFP mouse model for electrophysiological studies of the GnRH neuron (or any CNS neuron for that matter). Daniel then became a faculty member at the University of Chicago, where he investigated calcium signaling in the pubertal activation of the GnRH pulse generator by the neuropeptide kisspeptin, before coming to Yale where he explored the GABAergic and glutamatergic modulation of the electrical activity and intracellular calcium concentration of MCH neurons involved in energy homeostasis and sleep-wake regulation, while continuing to examine the neurotransmitter and neuropeptide modulation of GnRH neuron activity and GnRH secretion. Daniel recently joined the Chang lab, where he plan to use electrophysiological, calcium imaging, and optogenetic approaches to characterize the electrical activity and determine the functional connectivity and physiological roles of genetically defined subsets of intracardiac neurons in cardiovascular health and disease. Fun facts: I’ve visited 32 countries. I play the cello. I eat at least 10 different fruits and vegetables each day. I enjoy cold weather.