Research Information
Research Interests
Research in undergraduate and graduate medical education;
Intercellular signaling in models of developmental disorders;
Identification of drug targets to manage neurodevelopmental defects;
Calcium channel expression and assembly in inherited disorders
Education
Residencies, Internships and Fellowships
Additional Information
Leadership and service
As an invested member of the university community, Dr. McEnery’s 20+ year commitment to faculty governance is evident by her sustained service and leadership at the departmental, School of Medicine, university, and national levels.
- Nominee and Candidate, Chair-elect of the Faculty Senate
- School of Medicine Faculty Senator
- Chair, Faculty Senate Nominating Committee
- School of Medicine Representative, ad hoc Faculty Senate Health Education Campus (HEC) Transition Committee
- Member, Faculty Senate Bylaws Committee
- Chair, Faculty Council of the School of Medicine
- Member, Faculty Council Steering Committee (multiple terms)
- Representative, Faculty Council (multiple terms)
- Director, Spring Brain Conference
Biography
Maureen W. McEnery, PhD, MAT is an Associate Professor of Neurology (tenured) with secondary appointments in the Department of Neuroscience and Department of Psychiatry.
The expression of VDCC in development and disease is her major research area. The projects have been supported by numerous grants and the production of numerous antibodies used in the investigation of VDCC expression in mice that expressed diseased phenotypes (movement disorders and seizure disorders) due to mutations in specific VDCC subunits. The key finding of this research was the observation that unpredicted compensatory expression of non-mutant VDCC subunits occurs in mutant mice in response to their respective genetic backgrounds. In short, the effects of a specific mutation reverberate throughout the brain and lead to an altered VDCC subunit expression, localization, and excitation-secretion coupling.
There are important implications of Dr. McEnery's findings with regard to the etiology, progression, and treatment of human neurological disorders linked to mutant genes that encode VDCC subunits (i.e. episodic ataxia type 2 (EA2), familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM), and spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6). Developmental disorders are also thought to be the result of altered VDCC expression (i.e. Timothy Syndrome). Although these aforementioned disorders have a very low incidence in the population, they challenge us to understand the intricacies of normal neuronal processes and how perturbations of these processes can lead to disease.
As an educator, Dr. McEnery conveys her passion for applied neuroscience, molecular processes, and cellular signaling to medical students and residents. As Block Leader for the second-year medical school course on Cognition, Sensation, and Movement (aka Block 6), she oversees the design and scheduling for the curriculum that includes principles of neuroscience, neurology, psychiatry and other disciplines. She works closely with clinical neurologists (Drs. Xiong and Chandar), other basic scientists (Dr. Friel) and numerous attending physicians to assemble a course that is highly regarded by exiting students. Neurology residents participate in Block 6 as both students and educators. In the past few years, the role of the PGY3 resident has been expanded to afford more opportunities for hone their emerging skills as teachers. Dr. McEnery has recently conducted research on Implementing best practices in medical education and Innovations in medical education (flipped classroom).