Jose Cavazos, M.D.
Assistant Dean, South Texas Medical Scientist Training Program/ Professor, Neurology
Dr. José Cavazos's lab studies activity-dependent plasticity in the hippocampal formation in the developing, adult, and aged brain using a variety of experimental models of epilepsy, seizures, and epileptogenesis. Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that repeated seizures induce progressive neuronal death and axon sprouting that permanently alter the hippocampal circuitry lending it more susceptible to additional seizures and memory dysfunction.
We currently are investigating the molecular mechanisms that link the synchronous neuronal hyperexcitability with these morphological events. We investigate the features of seizure-induced axon sprouting in other limbic circuitries using anatomical tracing techniques, and their electrophysiological consequences in the neuronal excitability of the abnormally connected circuitry using brain slices and in-vivo using electrophysiological and neuroimaging techniques. We also have several ongoing clinical projects about people with epilepsy, particularly, focusing on the utilization of anticonvulsants.
Publications
Complete List of Published Work:
- ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5777-2608
- Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=mhsgiNoAAAAJ
Recent “research publications:
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Cardenas DP, Halford JJ, Whitmire LE, Morgan LC, Lie OV, Jetter GM, Cavazos JE. Automated Processing of Single-Channel Surface Electromyography From Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizures to Inform Semiology. J Clin Neurophysiol. 2020 Jan;37(1):56-61. doi: 10.1097/WNP.0000000000000618. PMID: 31335562.
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Vigil FA, Bozdemir E, Bugay V, Chun SH, Hobbs M, Sanchez I, Hastings SD, Veraza RJ, Holstein DM, Sprague SM, M Carver C, Cavazos JE, Brenner R, Lechleiter JD, Shapiro MS. Prevention of brain damage after traumatic brain injury by pharmacological enhancement of KCNQ (Kv7, "M-type") K+ currents in neurons. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2020 Jun;40(6):1256-1273. doi: 10.1177/0271678X19857818. Epub 2019 Jul 4. PMID: 31272312; PMCID: PMC7238379.
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Bugay V, Bozdemir E, Vigil FA, Chun SH, Holstein DM, Elliott WR, Sprague CJ, Cavazos JE, Zamora DO, Rule G, Shapiro MS, Lechleiter JD, Brenner R. A Mouse Model of Repetitive Blast Traumatic Brain Injury Reveals Post-Trauma Seizures and Increased Neuronal Excitability. J Neurotrauma. 2020 Jan 15;37(2):248-261. doi: 10.1089/neu.2018.6333. Epub 2019 Oct 21. PMID: 31025597; PMCID: PMC7058993.
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Jaime S, Cavazos JE, Yang Y, Lu H. Longitudinal observations using simultaneous fMRI, multiple channel electrophysiology recording, and chemical microiontophoresis in the rat brain. J Neurosci Methods. 2018 Aug 1;306:68-76. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2018.05.010. Epub 2018 May 17. PMID: 29778509.
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Jaime S, Gu H, Sadacca BF, Stein EA, Cavazos JE, Yang Y, Lu H. Delta Rhythm Orchestrates the Neural Activity Underlying the Resting State BOLD Signal via Phase-amplitude Coupling. Cereb Cortex. 2019 Jan 1;29(1):119-133. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhx310. PMID: 29161352; PMCID: PMC6490973.
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Whitmire LE, Ling L, Bugay V, Carver CM, Timilsina S, Chuang HH, Jaffe DB, Shapiro MS, Cavazos JE, Brenner R. Downregulation of KCNMB4 expression and changes in BK channel subtype in hippocampal granule neurons following seizure activity. PLoS One. 2017 Nov 16;12(11):e0188064. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188064. PMID: 29145442; PMCID: PMC5690595.
Education
Scroll table right to view more
| Year | Degree | Discipline | Institution |
| 2016 | Certificate | Business of Health (Summa Cum Laude) | University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX |
| 1997 | Clinical Fellowship | Clinical Neurophysiology / Epilepsy | Duke University Durham, NC |
| 1996 | Residency | Neurology (Chief Resident) | Duke University Durham, NC |
| 1993 | Internship | Internal Medicine | University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI |
| 1993 | PhD | Neuroscience (Cum Laude - GPA) | University of Wisconsin at Madison Madison, WI |
| 1987 | MD | Medicine (Mencion Honorifica - Cum Laude) | Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico |
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