Yongchang Chang, MD, PhD
Principal Investigator, Laboratory of Ion Channel Biophysics

Dr. Yongchang Chang is an Assistant Staff Scientist in the Division of Neurobiology at Barrow Neurological Institute. He received his medical degree in 1982 from Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China, and his PhD in Physiology and Biophysics in 1998 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Chang has almost 15 years of experience studying the structure-function relationship of ligand-gated ion channels. He has published 13 peer-reviewed research papers on the fundamental properties of ligand-gated ion channels, 4 peer-reviewed papers on translational studies, and 3 book chapters.

Communication between neurons is the basic form of information processing in the brain. This communication is achieved primarily through neurotransmitter-operated ion channels (ligand-gated ion channels) at the synapse, where one neuron contacts another. Understanding the fundamental molecular mechanisms of ligand-gated ion channels is important for understanding the mechanism of diseases and for new drug development. Dr. Chang’s laboratory has two major research focuses. First, the structural basis of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-gated channel function is investigated from a multidisciplinary perspective. For example, Dr. Chang has received an Arizona Biomedical Research Commission (ABRC) grant to study the dynamic structural basis for GABAC receptor activation and antagonism. Second, his laboratory is involved in translational research into the potential role of ion channel dysfunction in neurological diseases. In collaboration with Dr. Jie Wu, Dr. Chang has received a National Institutes of Health grant to study the role of GABA-mediated excitation in human hypothalamic hamartomas.