Experience

Rockville Science Center

• United States
• Museums, Historical Sites, and Zoos
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Scientist/ Manager

  • Mar 2018 - Present

  Develop science projects and classes targetting the whole community from elementary school to seniors. The science projects I developed include the science of life, brain development & learning, biotechnology, electronics circuits using Arduino, and Raspberry Pi... I teach and supervise volunteers to teach and develop their own projects. The goal of the Rockville Science Center is to cultivate a sense of inquiry, discovery, wonder, and understanding of the scientific foundations of everyday life to the whole community. Show less



A+Science4Kids

• Scientist

  • 2013 - Mar 2018

  Having 2 kids at elementary school, I created A+Science4Kids when I discovered that some elementary schools are not teaching science correctly and some schools do not even have a science teacher. Having 2 kids at elementary school, I created A+Science4Kids when I discovered that some elementary schools are not teaching science correctly and some schools do not even have a science teacher.



Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland

• Senior Scientist/Project Manager

  • Aug 2010 - Sep 2012

  Duties and accomplishements: • Manage the laboratory of neural microcircuits (LNMC) at the Brain Mind Institute (BMI), the source of data for brain simulation by Blue brain project (BBP). • Manage collaboration with Nestle corp. including weekly scientific meeting as well as writing scientific and financial yearly reports. • Plan experiments from electrophysiology recordings to animal behavior. • Perform complex experiments (electrophysiology/pharmacology) about spices effects on different brain regions (Neocortex, lateral amygdala and dopamine neurons in substantia nigra and VTA). • Initiate and lead a bi-monthly brain-storm discussion of our scientific data and selected manuscripts in a whole group joined effort to come up with new ideas and consolidate collaboration between team members. • Perform experiments and statistical analysis of the cellular and molecular pharmacology effects of 15 drugs and spices on multiple parameters (140) that describe neural activity on single cells (microcircuit of up to 7 neurons), meso-scale (epileptic brain slices) and in vivo behavioral tests. • Planed experiments and wrote a license to perform spices effects on animal behaviors in accordance to the spices effects we have found on mice brain activity. • Organize and coordinate the teaching of 3 classes about “Cellular neuroscience and microcircuits” to master students at EPFL. • Teach “Pharmacology aspects of cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying short- and long-term plasticity of neurotransmission including LTP and LTD”. Show less



National Institutes of Health

• Research Services
• 200 - 300 Employee

• Research Fellow

  • Oct 2007 - Jul 2010

  National Institute of Health (NIH/NINDS), 35 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892. USA. Duties: Develop new methodology to fill a gap in the plasticity of neurotransmission. • Develop a new approach to study the pharmacological and biophysical mechanisms of synaptic transmission at the single secretory event level at the central nervous system and peripheral neuro-endocrine cells. • Simultaneous dual recordings of whole-cell and cell-attached membrane capacitance to study the Kinetics of the fusion-pore at different levels of brain activity. • Review manuscripts. Accomplishments: • Dual recordings of membrane capacitance at the whole-cell and single secretory events level in the calyx of held neurons and mouse adrenal chromaffin cells. • Vesicles recycling (fast versus slow endocytosis) have different kinetics and Ca2+ sensitivity in brain slices and chromaffin cells. Knocking out Calcineurin A blocks endocytosis in brain slices but not in chromaffin cells. However, knock out of Calcineurin A has an opposite effect. • Develop faster, efficient, and reproducible way to culture adrenal chromaffin cells from rat, and mice (wild type and knockout). • Teach cell culture techniques in sterile environment to 3 post-docs and a technician. • Transfection of primary cell culture and PC12 cell line. • Collect, analyze, evaluate and present data to colleagues and scientific meeting. • Review manuscripts for Biophysical journal. Show less



Wayne State University

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Assistant Professor

  • Oct 2002 - Sep 2007

  Accomplishments:• Developed independent research project and wrote grants submitted as principal investigator to NSF and NIH (R01) in 2005 and 2006. • Supervise summer student, technicians, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows including the evaluation of scientific merit of each project.• Performed cell culture in sterile environment of human adrenal chromaffin cells in collaboration with kidney transplant surgeon.• Write and publish manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals.• Teach neuroscience class to graduate students. Lead discussion of scientific manuscripts with graduate students.• Review research manuscripts for Journal of Neurobioloy and Biophysical Journal.Main findings are published in 4 manuscripts:1. Elhamdani A, Azizi F, Solomaha E, Palfrey HC, Artalejo CR. (2006) Two mechanistically distinct forms of endocytosis in adrenal chromaffin cells: Differential effects of SH3 domains and amphiphysin antagonism. FEBS Lett. 580: 3263-3269. 2. Elhamdani A, Azizi F, Artalejo CR. (2006) Double patch clamp reveals that transient fusion (kiss-and-run) is a major mechanism of secretion in calf adrenal chromaffin cells: high calcium shifts the mechanism from kiss-and-run to complete fusion. J. Neurosci. 26: 3030-3036.3. Artalejo CR, Elhamdani A, Palfrey HC. (2002) Sustained stimulation shifts the mechanism of endocytosis from dynamin-1-dependent rapid endocytosis to clathrin- and dynamin-2-mediated slow endocytosis in chromaffin cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A. 99: 6358-6363.4. Elhamdani A, Palfrey CH, Artalejo CR. (2002) Ageing changes the cellular basis of the "fight-or-flight" response in human adrenal chromaffin cells. Neurobiol. Aging. 23: 287-293. Show less

• Research associate

  • Oct 1996 - Oct 2002

  Duties: • Dual recording of action potentials stimulation and neurotransmitter release signal.• Selective blockade of Ca2+ channels with toxins and dihydropyridine antagonists.• Contribution of each Ca2+ channel to the timing of neurotransmitter release.• Dual recording of neurotransmitter release at a wide range of action potential frequencies.• Determine the amount and kinetics of neurotransmitter release from a single secretory vesicle.• Perform experiments, analyze data, write reports and give a feed-back on the potency and selectivity of the antibodies to the collaborators.Accomplishments:• Supervise summer student, technicians and graduate students.• Developed new approaches to fill a gap about the role of physiological stimuli in neurotransmission at high temporal and spatial resolution. Double-patch recordings of Amperometry/ Voltametry while stimulating neurotransmitter release with physiological stimulation (action potentials).Main findings in published manuscripts:“Quantal release dogma: “all-or-none” process”.• Secretory vesicles release only part of their neurotransmitter contents during each round of secretion. This has shattered a 50 years old dogma supporting “all-or-none” process of hormones and neurotransmitters release.“Timing between stimulation and the release of neurotransmitters depends on the proximity of Ca2+ channels and the release site”.• Coupling between Ca2+ channels and dopamine containing secretory vesicles.“Glucocorticoids treatment of PC12 cell line triggers the maturation of the secretory apparatus”.• Release of corticosteroids from cortical cell of the adrenal glands potentiates neurotransmitter release in chromaffin cells of the adrenal medullae.“Role of CAPS (Ca-activated protein for secretion) proteins in the fusion process and hormones release”.• CAPS protein is critical to the fusion process of dense-core vesicles. Show less