Biography

Dr. Tracey earned his Bachelor's degree from SUNY Buffalo in 1991. He went to Florida International University in 1994 to receive his M.S. in 1994 and came back to New York to complete his Ph.D. at SUNY Stony Brook in 1999. Following his studies, he went to the California Institute of Technology as a postdoctoral fellow in 1999. Before coming to IU, Tracey was the head of the Tracey lab at Duke University. Tracey's research aims to understand the general principles that govern the specification and function of neuronal circuits. He and his lab study this problem using the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster, whose relatively simplified nervous system must perform many of the same computations that are carried out by the human nervous system. The lab's primary focus is to use the fly model to identify circuits and genes that function in nociception. These studies lead to a greater understanding of pain signaling. In addition, they are attempting to identify the molecules that are used in neurosensory mechanotransduction, which underlies the human sense of touch.

Publications

  • Mauthner SE, Hwang RY, Lewis AH, Xiao Q, Tsubouchi A, Wang Y, Honjo K, Skene JH, Grandl J, Tracey WD Jr. Balboa binds to pickpocket in vivo and is required for mechanical nociception in Drosophila larvae. Curr Biol. 2014 Dec 15;24(24):2920-5.
  • Robertson, J.L., A. Tsubouchi, and W.D. Tracey, Larval defense against attack from parasitoid wasps requires nociceptive neurons. PLoS One, 2013. 8(10): p. e78704.
  • Pagadala, P., C.K. Park, S. Bang, Z.Z. Xu, R.G. Xie, T. Liu, B.X. Han, W.D. Tracey, Jr., F. Wang, and R.R. Ji, Loss of NR1 subunit of NMDARs in primary sensory neurons leads to hyperexcitability and pain hypersensitivity: involvement of Ca(2+)-activated small conductance potassium channels. J Neurosci, 2013. 33(33): p. 13425-30.
  • Zhong, L., A. Bellemer, H. Yan, H. Ken, R. Jessica, R.Y. Hwang, G.S. Pitt, and W.D. Tracey, Thermosensory and nonthermosensory isoforms of Drosophila melanogaster TRPA1 reveal heat-sensor domains of a thermoTRP Channel. Cell Rep, 2012. 1(1): p. 43-55.
  • Tsubouchi, A., J.C. Caldwell, and W.D. Tracey, Dendritic filopodia, Ripped Pocket, NOMPC, and NMDARs contribute to the sense of touch in Drosophila larvae. Curr Biol, 2012. 22(22): p. 2124-34.
  • Stewart, A., A. Tsubouchi, M.M. Rolls, W.D. Tracey, and N.T. Sherwood, Katanin p60-like1 promotes microtubule growth and terminal dendrite stability in the larval class IV sensory neurons of Drosophila. J Neurosci, 2012. 32(34): p. 11631-42.
  • Schwartz, N.U., L. Zhong, A. Bellemer, and W.D. Tracey, Egg laying decisions in Drosophila are consistent with foraging costs of larval progeny. PLoS One, 2012. 7(5): p. e37910.
  • Hwang, R.Y., N.A. Stearns, and W.D. Tracey, The ankyrin repeat domain of the TRPA protein painless is important for thermal nociception but not mechanical nociception. PLoS One, 2012. 7(1): p. e30090.
  • Honjo, K., R.Y. Hwang, and W.D. Tracey, Jr., Optogenetic manipulation of neural circuits and behavior in Drosophila larvae. Nat Protoc, 2012. 7(8): p. 1470-8.
  • Zhong, L., R.Y. Hwang, and W.D. Tracey, Pickpocket is a DEG/ENaC protein required for mechanical nociception in Drosophila larvae. Curr Biol, 2010. 20(5): p. 429-34.
  • Caldwell, J.C. and W.D. Tracey, Jr., Alternatives to mammalian pain models 2: using Drosophila to identify novel genes involved in nociception. Methods Mol Biol, 2010. 617: p. 19-29.
  • Hwang, R.Y., L. Zhong, Y. Xu, T. Johnson, F. Zhang, K. Deisseroth, and W.D. Tracey, Nociceptive neurons protect Drosophila larvae from parasitoid wasps. Curr Biol, 2007. 17(24): p. 2105-16.
  • Al-Anzi, B., W.D. Tracey, Jr., and S. Benzer, Response of Drosophila to wasabi is mediated by painless, the fly homolog of mammalian TRPA1/ANKTM1. Curr Biol, 2006. 16(10): p. 1034-40.
  • W.D. Tracey Jr, Wilson RI, Laurent G, Benzer S. painless, a Drosophila gene essential for nociception. Cell. 2003 Apr 18;113(2):261-73.

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