James D. Angstadt

Dr. Angstadt is a full professor in the Biology Department and has been a Siena College faculty member since 1991.  He completed a PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin Madison in 1986.  Prior to joining the Siena faculty, he conducted postdoctoral research at Emory University and the University of Virginia, investigating neurons that control rhythmic motor behaviors in the medicinal leech.  He has continued work on the leech nervous system at Siena and maintains an active research lab where he and Siena undergraduates conduct electrophysiolgical and molecular bioology experiments aimed at elucidating the types and properties of ion channel proteins in identified neurons.  Each fall semester he teaches an upper level lecture and laboratory course in Neurobiology.  He also teaches General Biology II lecture and General Biology I and II labs.

My Siena Experience

My Teaching Philosophy

My approach to teaching changes with each course, in part because students are at very different stages of their undergraduate career.   In general biology, I’m working with freshmen or nonmajors who are completing an introductory sequence in the field of biology.  In these courses, one of the primary goals is to teach students how to learn so that they are better prepared for the challenges ahead.   For example, we discuss the types of questions that professors ask on exams, how to identify those types, and how to craft an appropriate answer.  Biol-190 (also required for biology majors) is a writing-intensive course where students learn about the entire scientific process.  Here the emphasis is on helping each student develop as a scholar and a writer as well as explaining how and why the intellectual skills they are sharpening will play an important part in determining their future success.  My general philosophy (which is shared by the entire department) is that students learn best by doing.  Thus, a large majority of our courses include a laboratory experience that is integrated with the lecture.   In each course, I focus on concepts and information fundamental to the discipline, but I also make sure to include examples of new and exciting findings.  Students sometime tend to assume that all the big questions have been answered and all the major problems solved.  Nothing could be further from the truth and exposing students to studies in the current literature illustrates this fact.  Such experiences also demonstrate how the fundamental concepts and methodologies we are learning in class are directly relevant to current progress in the research laboratory.  

What I Love About Siena

Like most of my colleagues, I get to work with students at different stages of their undergraduate career.   Whether they are freshmen or seniors, Siena biology majors are bright, hardworking, and genuinely appreciative of my role in their education.  That combination makes it a pleasure to work hard on their behalf. 

My Favorite Courses to Teach

As you might expect, neurobiology is my favorite class because it is my area of expertise and  I have the chance to work with seasoned upperclassmen who are ready for, and excited about, an intense learning experience.  My neurobiology course is designed to meet the goals of our Physiology Course Area and therefore emphasizes the function of individual neurons and their communication at synapses. We also cover topics such as motor control, sensory perception, and learning and memory.   In lab, students learn a variety of methods including how to record from (and stimulate) neurons using sharp microelectrodes.  
     Another rewarding aspect of teaching upper level courses like neurobiology is that students begin to appreciate how gaining basic knowledge from required courses in biology, physics, chemistry and math was quite valuable.  In neurobiology, concepts from these disciplines are applied as appropriate to achieving the overall goal of elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying nervous system function. 

My Professional Experience

Articles & Book Reviews

• Effects of calcium-activated potassium channel modulators on afterhyperpolarizing potentials in identified motor and mechanosensory neurons of the medicinal leech
  Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
  2021
• Transcriptional Profiling of Identified Neurons in Leech
  BMC Genomics
  2021
• 9-Phenanthrol modulates postinhibitory rebound and afterhyperpolarizing potentials in an excitatory motor neuron of the medicinal leech
  Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, vol. 203
  2017
• Riluzole suppresses postinhibitory rebound in an excitatory motor neuron of the medicinal leech.
  Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, vol. 200
  August, 2014
• Dopamine induces rhythmic activity and enhances postinhibitory rebound in a leech motor neuron involved in swimming and crawling behaviors
  Impulse
  2007
• Mechanisms of postinhibitory rebound and its modulation by serotonin in excitatory motor neurons of the medicinal leech
  Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, vol. 191
  2005
• Single-cell analysis reveals cell-specific patterns of expression of a family of putative voltage-gated sodium channel genes in the leech
  Journal of Neurobiology, vol. 55
  2003
• The number of morphological synapses between neurons does not predict the strength of their physiological interactions: a study of dendrites in the nematode Ascaris suum
  Journal of Comparative Neurology, vol. 432
  2001
• Persistent inward currents in cultured Retzius cells of the medicinal leech
  Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, vol. 184
  1999
• Effects of transition metal ions on chemical synaptic transmission and spontaneous electrical activity of neurons in the medicinal leech
  Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, vol. 182
  1998
• A circadian rhythm of swimming behavior in a predatory leech of the family Erpobdellidae
  Amer. Midl. Natur., vol. 137
  1997
• Sodium-dependent plateau potentials in cultured Retzius cells of the medicinal leech
  Journal of Neurophysiology, vol. 76
  1996
• Diversity and modulation of ionic conductances in leech neurons
  Journal of Neurobiology, vol. 27
  1995
• A model of graded synaptic transmission based on presynaptic calcium current in leech heartbeat network
  Journal of Comparative Neurology, vol. 64
  1993
• Modeling a neural oscillator that paces heartbeat in the medicinal leech
  American Zool, vol. 33
  1993
• Modulation of swimming behavior in the medicinal leech. I. Effects of serotonin on the electrical properties of swim-gating cell
  Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, vol. 172
  1993
• Modulation of swimming behavior in the medicinal leech. II. Ionic conductances underlying serotonergic modulation of swim-gating cell 204
  Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, vol. 172
  1993
• Calcium currents and graded synaptic transmission between heart interneurons of the leech
  Journal of Neuroscience, The, vol. 11
  1991
• Synchronized oscillatory activity in leech neurons induced by calcium channel blockers
  Journal of Neurophysiology, vol. 66
  1991
• A hyperpolarization activated inward current in heart interneurons of the medicinal leech.
  Journal of Neuroscience, The, vol. 9
  1989
• Retrovesicular ganglion of the nematode Ascaris
  Journal of Comparative Neurology, vol. 284
  1989
• Slow active potentials in ventral inhibitory motor neurons of the nematode Ascaris
  Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, vol. 166
  1989
• Nematode neurobiology using Ascaris as a model system.
  Journal of Cell Biochem Suppl., vol. 11
  1987
• Neural control of behavior in Ascaris
  Trends in Neurosciences, vol. 8
  1985

Awards & Distinctions

• Raymond C. Kennedy Excellence in Scholarship Award
  Category: Research
  Siena College, 2022
• Nominated for Jerome Walton Excellence in Teaching Award
  Category: Teaching
  Siena College, 2002
• Nominated for Kennedy Excellence in Scholarship Award
  Category: Teaching
  Siena College, 2002
• Nominated for Jerome Walton Excellence in Teaching Award
  Category: Teaching
  Siena College, 2001
• Research program featured in the Winter edition of the Siena Alumni Newsletter
  Category: Research
  Research program featured in the Winter edition of the Siena Alumni Newsletter, 2001
• Nominated for Jerome Walton Excellence in Teaching Award
  Category: Teaching
  Siena College, 2000
• Research featured in Troy Record article
  Category: Research
  Research featured in Troy Record article, 1994
• Graduated magna cum laude with B.S. in biology from Juniata College
  Category: Other
  Graduated magna cum laude with B.S. in biology from Juniata College, 1980

Books & Book Chapters

• Perspectives in Neural Systems and Behavior
  Alan R. Liss
  1989

Presentations

• Serotonin and flufenamic acid modulate postinhibitory rebound responses of an excitatory motor neuron in the medicinal leech.
  2012
  Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Washington, District of Columbia
• Effects of riluzole on cell DE-3 of the medicinal leech: Evidence that a persistent sodium current contributes to postinhibitory rebound responses and bursting activity induced by calcium-channel blockers.
  2011
  Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Washington, District of Columbia
• Cellular Mechanisms Underlying Serotonergic Modulation of Postinhibitory Rebound in DE-3 Motor Neurons of the Leech
  2008
  Poster Presentation at the Leech Researchers Meeting. Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Washington, District of Columbia
• Postinhibitory rebound in identified swim motor neurons of Hirudo medicinalis.
  2003
  Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Washington, District of Columbia
• Identification of voltage-gated conductances in swim motor neurons of Hirudo medicinalis.
  2002
  Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Washington, District of Columbia
• Evidence for Circadian Rhythms of Swimming Behavior in a Predatory Leech
  1995
  Annual Sigma Xi Poster Session and National Council for Undergraduate Research (NCUR, Schnectady, New York
• Effects of Calcium Channel Blockers on Sodium-Dependent Oscillations in Leech Neurons
  1993
  Annual Sigma Xi Poster Session, Albany, New York
• Analysis of a Neuronal Oscillator
  1992
  Yamaguchi Symposium: Connections Between Genetics and Physiology in the Study of Biological Rhythms, Tokyo, Japan
• Membrane Potential Oscillations Induced by Calcium Channel Blockers
  1992
  Society for Research on Biological Rhythms., Charlottesville, Virginia