Charles Meshul

Dr. Meshul is Professor, Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University and Research Biologist and Director, Electron Microscopy Facility, Veterans Hospital, Portland, OR. After receiving a PhD in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Illinois Medical Center, with an emphasis in neuroanatomy and electron microscopy, Dr. Meshul’s postdoctoral fellowship was carried out in the Dept of Pharmacology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, with an emphasis in neurotoxins and electron microscopy. In 1984, Dr. Meshul started at the Portland, VA Medical Center and Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, OR, where he developed an interest in the effects of neuroleptic drugs on the basal ganglia, utilizing both electron microscopy and pharmacology. In the late 1990’s, Dr. Meshul switched to studying Parkinson’s disease (PD) in both rat and mouse models. Using the toxin, MPTP, he has recently developed a new progressive mouse model of PD, whereby increasing the weekly dose of this toxin leads to a gradual loss of dopamine neurons, which correlates with deficits in motor function. With this model he has been able to test various treatments to determine if they can either slow or reverse the effects of the progressive loss of dopamine as seen in humans with PD.