Phil Colmers

I went to Queen’s University for my undergraduate degree in Life Science (B.Sc. Hons) before moving to the University of Calgary to pursue my Ph.D. with Dr. Jaideep Bains. My work in the Bains lab examined the impact of extrasynaptic transmission on inhibition of the stress response. There, I expanded on Dr. Maguire’s postdoctoral work and showed that, together with neurosteroids, corticosterone itself can modulate extrasynaptic GABAARs. I also showed that glutamate spillover from heterosynaptic sites alters the rapid effects of endocannabinoids on inhibitory transmission. I will continue studying inhibitory transmission as a postdoc in the Maguire Lab and learn new techniques with which to examine the role of inhibition in network communication. In vivo electrophysiological and photometric recordings paired with behavioral testing and conditional genetic manipulations will allow for targeted examination of how changes to inhibitory populations may impact network-level communication. With this, I will test how disease states may arise from pathological changes to inhibitory networks.