Ph.D., 1994, University of California, San Francisco
Sc.D., 2006, Harvard School of Public Health
Research Interests
My research interests mostly come from my background in neurobiology. I am interested in how environmental factors affect the nervous system, as well as the epidemiology of neurologic disorders. Currently, one focus of my research is cognitive function. In particular, how non-occupational exposure to environmental lead affects cognitive function in a general elderly population, and how this may be modified by particular genetic polymorphisms; as well as how lifestyle factors and particular genetic polymorphisms affect cognitive decline in persons with Parkinson’s disease. I am co-investigator on a grant to look at the association between risk of Parkinson’s Disease and organochlorines in serum collected prospectively, as well as on another grant to look at risk factors for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) mortality using the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study II cohort. This is the largest prospective cohort study of risk factors for ALS as the population is over 1 million.
My interests also include reproductive epidemiology. I have done some research on the effects of consumption of organochlorine contaminated fish from the Great Lakes on birth outcomes. I am pursuing additional such studies, including looking at male reproductive function, among people from Denmark and the Faroe Islands. I am also very interested in pursuing the question of whether exposures in utero have adverse (potentially neurologic) effects that manifest in the adult.
An important direction of my future research involves developing new ways of examining impacts on the nervous system. My past laboratory research examined the cellular and molecular mechanisms of plasticity in different areas of the brain, processes that are believed to underlie learning and memory at the behavioral level. I am building on this background to develop new biomarkers of effects on the nervous system in humans that may be earlier indicators—and potentially more sensitive ones—of adverse effects. I am the principal investigator of a grant to examine the effects of lead exposure on physiological measures of a simple form of learning: conditioning of the acoustic startle reflex. This form of learning relies on biological processes that are the same as those thought to underlie other forms of learning and memory; is independent of conscious processing and so likely avoids many of the biases inherent in assessing cognitive function by other means; is readily applied in different cultural settings; has direct parallels in animal models thus facilitating comparison with that literature; and additionally may have important implications for anxiety and other emotional disturbances in humans. In addition, I am exploring the use of a new device to sensitively measure aspects of handwriting and fine motor control, as well as using Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy to examine effects of lead on neuronal density.
Select Publications
Weisskopf MG, O’Reilly EJ, McCullough, ML, Calle EE, Thun MJ, Cudkowicz M, Ascherio A; Prospective study of military service and mortality from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Neurology, 64(1):32-7, 2005.
Weisskopf MG, Wright RO, Schwartz J, Spiro III A, Sparrow D, Aro A, Hu H; Cumulative lead exposure and prospective change in cognition among elderly men: the VA Normative Aging Study; Am. J. Epidemiol., 160(12):1184-93, 2004.
Weisskopf MG, Hu H, Mulkern RV, White R, Aro A, Oliveira S, Wright RO; Cognitive Deficits and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Adult Monozygotic Twins with Lead Poisoning; Environ. Health. Perspect., 112(5):620-625, 2004.
Weisskopf MG , Chen H, Schwarzschild MA, Kawachi I, Ascherio A; Prospective study of phobic anxiety and risk of Parkinson’s disease; Mov. Disord., 18(6):646-51, 2003 .
Weisskopf MG , Hanrahan LP, Anderson HA, for the Great Lakes Consortium; Decreased sex ratio following maternal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls from contaminated Great Lakes sport-caught fish: a retrospective cohort study; Environ. Health., 2:2, 2003.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Public health dispatch: Potential risk of lead exposure in dental offices; Morb Mort. Wkly Rep., 50(40):873-874, 2001.
Weisskopf MG, Bauer EP, LeDoux JE; L-type voltage-gated calcium channels mediate NMDA-independent associative long-term potentiation at thalamic input synapses to the amygdala; J. Neurosci., 19:10512-10519, 1999.
Weisskopf MG, Castillo PE, Zalutsky RA, Nicoll RA; Mediation of hippocampal mossy fiber long-term potentiation by cyclic AMP; Science, 265:1878-1882, 1994.
Weisskopf MG, Zalutsky RA, Nicoll RA; The opioid peptide dynorphin mediates heterosynaptic depression of hippocampal mossy fibre synapses and modulates long-term potentiation; Nature, 362:423-427, 1993.
