Gerry S. Oxford, PhD

Bio

Dr. Oxford received bachelor’s degrees in Biology and in Chemistry from Elon University (1969), the PhD in Physiology from Emory University (1974) followed by 2 years of postdoctoral research at Duke University.  He joined the faculty of the Department of Physiology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor in 1976 and rose to the rank of Professor in 1988.  For 15 years, he directed the nationally ranked UNC graduate program in Neurobiology and was named the University Professor of Distinguished Teaching from 1998-2001.  In 2003, Dr. Oxford became the founding Executive Director of the Paul and Carole Stark Neurosciences Research Institute at IU School of Medicine and retired from that position to emeritus status in 2016.  He has over 40 years of experience in electrophysiological investigations of ion channels and receptors.  In particular, his laboratory has studied isolated sensory neurons since 1985, contributing to our understanding of bradykinin and capsaicin responses in nociceptors.  Furthermore he has been a leader in understanding of the structure-function parameters and modulation of the pain transducers TRPV1 and TRPA1 by various signaling cascades.  His lab is also one of the foremost in exploring “functional selectivity” of dopamine receptors, a phenomenon by which a single receptor isoform can selectively direct signaling to downstream pathways dependent upon the agonist.  Dr. Oxford has received many teaching awards, was the Gordon Wilson Lecturer of the American Clinical and Climatological Association (1997) and Elon University Distinguished Alumnus of the Year (2005).  Dr. Oxford enjoys bicycling, hiking the NC mountains where he currently resides, building computers, traveling, and single barrel bourbons.