HARRY PANTAZOPOULOS, PHD
- Harvard title(s): Instructor, Assistant Neuroscientist
- McLean title(s): Investigator, Translational Neuroscience Laboratory
- Email: hpantazo@mclean.harvard.edu
- Telephone: 617-855-2028
- Fax: 617-855-3850
- Office Address: MRC3, Bay M
- Bio: Harry's interest in psychiatric diseases began during his undergraduate studies at Umass-Amherst where he served as an intern in the Psychiatric Services Clinic under Prof. David Todd. At that time, Harry also worked as intern in the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center, under the direction of Dr. Francine Benes, and later went on to begin his research experience by working in the laboratory of Dr. Benes, where he studied the effects of corticosterone exposure on the rat hippocampal GABA system and quantified D1 receptor mRNA in the hippocampus of schizophrenic (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) subjects. After completing his undergraduate studies, Harry pursued his interest in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder by joining the Laboratory for Translational Neuroscience under the direction of Dr. Sabina Berretta. In the TNL lab, Harry conducted investigations on the volume and total number of neurons in the amygdala of SZ and BD subjects, which demonstrated a selective decrease of the lateral nucleus of the amygdala in BD. During the same period, Harry also conducted studies using a rodent model of SZ where picrotoxin was infused chronically into the medial prefrontal cortex of rats, followed by quantification of subpopulations of neurons in the amygdala of the same animals to examine the potential effects that increased activity from the medial prefrontal cortex may have on subpopulations of interneurons in the amygdala.
While working in the TNL, Harry completed a master's degree in biology. His thesis work, funded in part by the Andrew P. Merrill Young Investigator Award, focused on the study of parvalbumin neurons in the amygdala and entorhinal cortex from SZ and BD subjects, demonstrating a selective decrease of PVB immunoreative neurons in the entorhinal cortex of BD subjects, as well as the study of the extracellular matrix molecules composed of chondriotin sulphate proteoglycans (CSPG) in the amygdala and entorhinal cortex from the same subjects, demonstrating a massive upregulation of CSPG expressing glial cells in both regions in SZ subjects, accompanied by decreased perineuronal nets formed by CSPGs in the same regions.
Harry then went on to obtain his Ph.D. In Neurobiology from Northeastern University, studying the regulation of circadian rhythms by VIP signaling and the regulation of clock gene expression in the hippocampus, amygdala, piriform cortex, and suprachiasmatic nucleus in response to fear entrainment. After completing his PhD., Harry received the Rappaport Mental Health Research Scholar Award and returned to the TNL to continue work on extracellular matrix molecules in SZ.
- Curriculum vitæ: (PDF format)
- Publications: Pubmed search for Pantazopoulos H[au]
