George J. Augustine Explained

George J. Augustine
Birth Name:	George James Augustine
Nationality:	American
Alma Mater:	University of Maryland, Baltimore
Discipline:	Biology
Sub Discipline:	Neuroscience
Notable Students:	Sam Wang
Notable Works:	Neuroscience (2017)
Influenced:	Karl Deisseroth

George James Augustine (born 1955) is an American neuroscientist known for his work on presynaptic mechanisms of neurotransmitter release and his contributions to the development of optogenetics, a tool to control neural activity using light.^{[1] [2]} He is best known as the author of the popular neuroscience textbook published by Oxford University Press along with lead author Dale Purves.^[3]

He was previously the G.B. Geller Professor of Neurobiology at Duke University, US. He is currently Irene Tan Liang Kheng Chair Professor in Neuroscience at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University.^[4]

Academic background

Augustine obtained his doctorate from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and trained under Roger Eckert at University of California, Los Angeles, and Erwin Neher at Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. He was an early receipt of the Grass Fellowship from the Marine Biological Laboratory and has held faculty positions at the University of Southern California, Duke University, and the Duke–NUS Medical School in Singapore.^[5]

Research

Augustine has made seminal contributions to the understanding of neurotransmitter release, showing that it is triggered by a remarkably local calcium signal.^{[6] [7]}  He has been influential in discovering the role of several proteins involved in the release of neurotransmitters from nerve terminals.^{[8] [9]} Augustine has played a key role in the use and spread of optogenetics, a tool for interrogating neural circuits in the brain.^[10] He has used the tool to investigate neural circuits involved in Parkinson's disease, Rett syndrome, and impulsive behaviour.^{[11] [12] [13] [14]}

Selected publications

Books

• Book: 2017 . Dale . Purves . Dale Purves . Augustine . George J. . Fitzpatrick . David . Hall . William C. . LaMantia . Anthony-Samuel . Mooney . Richard D. . Platt . Michael L. . White . Leonard E. . Neuroscience . 6th . New York . Oxford University Press . 978-1-60535-380-7.

Articles

• Augustine. George J.. Charlton. Milton P.. Smith. Stephen J.. 1987. Calcium Action in Synaptic Transmitter Release. Annual Review of Neuroscience. 10. 633–693. 10.1146/annurev.ne.10.030187.003221. 2436546.
• Smith. Stephen J.. Augustine. George J.. 1988. Calcium Ions, Active Zones and Synaptic Transmitter Release. Trends in Neurosciences. 11. 10. 458–464. 10.1016/0166-2236(88)90199-3. 2469165.
• Augustine. George J.. Santamaria. Fidel. Tanaka. Keiko. 2003. Local Calcium Signaling in Neurons. Neuron. 40. 2. 311–346. 10.1016/S0896-6273(03)00639-1. 14556712. free.
• Arenkiel. Benjamin R.. Peca. Joao. Davidson. Ian G.. Feliciano. Catia. Deisseroth. Karl. Karl Deisseroth. Augustine. George J.. Ehlers. Michael D.. Michael Ehlers. Feng. Guopeng. Guoping Feng. 2007. In Vivo Light-Induced Activation of Neural Circuitry in Transgenic Mice Expressing Channelrhodopsin-2. Neuron. 54. 2. 205–218. 10.1016/j.neuron.2007.03.005. 17442243. 3634585.

Notes and References

1. News: The Beam of Light That Flips a Switch That Turns on the Brain. Chen. Ingfei. 2007. The New York Times.
2. Augustine. George J.. 2001. How Does Calcium Trigger Neurotransmitter Release?. Current Opinion in Neurobiology. 11. 3. 320–326. 10.1016/S0959-4388(00)00214-2. 11399430.
3. Book: 2017 . Dale . Purves . Dale Purves . Augustine . George J. . Fitzpatrick . David . Hall . William C. . LaMantia . Anthony-Samuel . Mooney . Richard D. . Platt . Michael L. . White . Leonard E. . Neuroscience . 6th . New York . Oxford University Press . 978-1-60535-380-7.
4. News: NTU Gets $11 Million Gift for Endowment Fund. Ang. Jolene. 2018. Straits Times.
5. Web site: Grass Fellows. 1979. Grass Foundation.
6. Finch . Elizabeth A. . Augustine . George J. . 1998. Local Calcium Signalling by Inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate in Purkinje Cell Dendrites. Nature. 396. 6713. 753–756. 10.1038/25541. 9874372.
7. Augustine. George J.. Neher. Erwin . Erwin Neher . 1992. Neuronal Ca2+ Signalling Takes the Local Route. Current Opinion in Neurobiology. 2. 3. 302–307. 10.1016/0959-4388(92)90119-6. 1643411.
8. Bommert . Kurt . Charlton . Milton P. . DeBello . William M. . Chin . Gilbert J. . Betz . Heinrich . Augustine . George J. . 1993. Inhibition of Neurotransmitter Release by C2-domain Peptides Implicates Synaptotagmin in Exocytosis. Nature. 363. 6425. 163–165. 10.1038/363163a0. 8097867.
9. DeBello . William M. . Betz . Heinrich . Augustine . George J. . 1993. Synaptotagmin and Neurotransmitter Release. Cell. 74. 6. 947–950. 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90716-4. 8104706 .
10. Web site: The Optogenetics Revolution. Shuzhen. Sim. 2015-01-08. Asian Scientist Magazine. en-US. 2019-06-09.
11. News: Theory of Parkinson's Disease Overturned. 2017. Science Daily.
12. Web site: Vitamin Choline Offers Hope in Search for Rett Syndrome Cure. Tan. Audrey. 2016-10-07. The Straits Times. en. 2019-06-09.
13. Web site: Brain Pathway Linked to Impulsive Behaviors. ScienceDaily. en. 2019-06-09.
14. Web site: The Unusual Path to Impulsive Behavior. 2019-02-04. Asian Scientist Magazine. en-US. 2019-06-09.