Joaquin N. Lugo, Jr., Ph.D.
Graduate Program Director, Ph.D. Program Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
Psychology & Neuroscience
Education
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Pediatrics-Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, 2010
Ph.D., Experimental Psychology, University of South Carolina-Columbia, 2004
B.S., Neuroscience, Baylor University, 1999
Biography
Dr. Lugo joined the Baylor faculty in 2010. He completed his postdoctoral research under the guidance in the Cain Foundation Laboratories in the department of Pediatrics-Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. in experimental psychology with a focus on behavioral neuroscience from the University of South Carolina-Columbia in 2004. In 2016, Dr. Lugo was made a Fellow of the American Epilepsy Society. Dr. Lugo enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons, running, and other outdoor activities.
Academic Interests and Research
The mission statement of the lab is to improve the quality of life in children with epilepsy, autism, and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
Interests: Developmental epilepsy, the relationship between epilepsy and autism, and bone comorbidities in epilepsy.
I investigate how seizures during different periods of neurodevelopment result in long-term changes in learning and memory, social behavior, and repetitive/stereotyped behaviors. I also investigate the neural mechanisms that mediate these changes through molecular and imaging techniques. In particular, I am examining how seizures induce changes in the mTOR, MAPK, and Canonical Wnt signaling pathways and how these changes lead to alterations in potassium channels and other synaptic proteins.
My interest in examining behavioral changes is also why I am examining the link between autism and epilepsy. Children with epilepsy have a high comorbidity with autism but the underlying mechanism is not known. I plan to investigate how seizures could lead to autistic-like behavior in mice.
My third research question is how seizures during early development impact brain growth and bone growth. We use genetic and chemoconvulant models of epilepsy and determine their bone phenotype in adulthood.
PEER-REVIEWED SELECTED PUBLICATIONS (*Indicates Dr. Lugo as the corresponding author. # indicates Baylor graduate student. † indicates Baylor undergraduate student)
- Narvaiz, D. A.#, Sullens, D. G.#, Santana-Coelho, D., Lugo, J. N.* (2022). Hyperactive mTOR Signaling Alters Microglia/Macrophage Activation in a Spatiotemporal Manner and Disproportionately Affects the Hippocampus. NeuroReport. Aug 3;33(11):476-480.
- Nguyen, P. H.†, Narvaiz, D. A.#, Womble, P. D.#, Sullens, D. G.#, Binder, M. S.#, Hodges, S. L.#, Kwok, E.†, Lugo, J. N.* (2022). Multiple Early-life Seizures Alters Neonatal Communicative Behavior in Fmr1 Knockout Mice. Developmental Neuroscience. May 5.
- Binder, M. S.#, Prankse, Z. P.†, Kim, A. D.†, Hodges, S. L.#, Narvaiz, D. A.#, Womble, P. D.#, Lugo, J. N.* (2022). A Flurothyl-Induced Seizure Does Not Disrupt Hippocampal Memory Reconsolidation in C57BL/6J Mice. Epilepsy Research. Mar;181:106867.
- Nolan, S. O.#, Hodges, S. L.#, Binder, M. S.#, Smith, G.#, Okoh, J.†, Jefferson, T.†, Escobar, B.†, Lugo, J. N.*, (2022). Dietary rescue of adult behavioral deficits in the Fmr1 knockout mouse. PLOS ONE. Jan 28;17(1):e0262916. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262916.
- Womble, P. D.#, Hodges, S. L.#, Nolan, S. O.#, Binder, M. S.#, Holley, A. J.#, Herrera, R.†, Senger, S.†, Kwok, E.†, Narvaiz, D. A. #, Faust, A†., Hernandez-Zegada, C. J. †, Kwon, R. Y., Lugo, J. N. * (2021). A vitamin D-enriched diet attenuates sex-specific behavioral deficits, and increases the lifespan, but does not rescue bone abnormalities in a mouse model of cortical dysplasia. Epilepsy and Behavior. Sep 9; 124:108297.
See my Google Scholar page for a complete list of publications.
Current Ph.D. Students:
Katherine Blandin
Taylor Bradish
Sydney Pell
Courses taught at Baylor:
- PSY/NSC 3320 - Learning and Behavior
- PSY/NSC 4317 - Neuroscience Literature
- PSY/NSC 4330 - Advanced Principles of Neural Science
Graduate Student Recruitment:
I am currently looking for graduate students to join my lab. There are 3 ways to apply for a position in my lab. Each program has difficult graduate level curriculum so apply to the one that best fits your interests and goals. Do e-mail me if you have questions. E-mail: Joaquin_Lugo@baylor.edu
- Graduate Program in Psychology
https://psychologyneuroscience.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/graduate-programs - Institute of Biomedical Studies PhD Program
https://www.baylor.edu/biomedical/index.php?id=4006 - Graduate Biology Program
https://biology.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/graduate-biology-programs