Charles (Lee) Cox, 2019-20 Big Ten Academic Alliance Academic Leadership Program Fellow
Charles “Lee” Cox is professor and chair of the Department of Physiology in the Colleges of Human Medicine, Natural Science, and Osteopathic Medicine. Lee’s research focuses on neural plasticity, which is the ability of the brain or neuronal circuits to adapt to changes in inputs, and is essential for brain development and function. Ongoing research in his laboratory involves the use of animal models to understand mechanisms underlying both short-term and long-term plasticity in neural circuits in the developing and adult brain. By understanding these mechanisms, we hope to gain insight with regards to the dysfunction that occurs in pathological conditions such as epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease as well as developmental brain disorders such as Fragile X syndrome and autism. His research program has been funded by multiple NIH institutes and FRAXA. Cox taught at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign from 2000-2013 prior to joining MSU. Lee is a 2019-2020 Big Ten Academic Alliance Academic Leadership Program Fellow.