Kevin Cummings , PhD
- Professor Pathobiology and Integrative Biomedical Sciences
- Interim Director Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center
Research
- Accepting new advisees Is accepting new doctoral advisees
Areas of expertise
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
- Translational/Clinical Neuroscience
Research Summary
The Cummings Lab studies how the central nervous system (CNS) controls breathing and cardiovascular function. Specifically, they investigate the role of serotonin and orexin neurons in respiratory and arterial blood pressure regulation in sleep and wakefulness. They utilize novel methodologies to measure breathing, heart rate, arterial blood pressure and vigilance state in freely-behaving animals, focal application of drugs to specific nuclei of the CNS, and novel DREADD (designer receptors activated by designer drugs) technologies. The goal is to resolve how defects in the serotonergic and orexinergic systems of the CNS make infants susceptible to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), a leading cause of infant death occurring during periods of sleep and involves acute and chronic cardiorespiratory dysfunction.
Ongoing projects study the role of serotonin in (1) the control of breathing and cardiovascular function in infancy, during wakefulness, REM and NREM sleep; (2) blood pressure regulation in adult animals; and in the coordinated cardiovascular, autonomic and respiratory responses to severe hypoxia. They also have a project focused on the role of orexin in the control of breathing during sleep and wakefulness, in both infant and adult animals.