Brain Aging

David R. Riddle, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and a member of the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, the Roena Kulynych Center for Memory and Cognition Research, and the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine (WFUSM). He began his scientific training as a John Motley Morehead Foundation Scholar at the University of North Carolina, where he received his B.S. in zoology in 1984. Dr. Riddle completed his doctoral degree in the Neuroscience Program at the University of Michigan under the direction of Dr. Bruce Oakley, receiving his Ph.D. in 1990. He received postdoctoral training in developmental neurobiology in the Department of Neurobiology at the Duke University Medical Center, investigating activity- and trophic factor-dependent regulation of the development of the CNS in the laboratories of Dr. Dale Purves and Dr. Lawrence Katz. Since joining the faculty at the WFUSM, Dr. Riddle's research has focused on the role of growth factors, particularly insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), in regulating neuronal structure and function in the developing, adult, and aging hippocampus and cerebral cortex. Currently, his laboratory focuses on IGF-1-dependent control of dendritic development, the regulation of neuronal and glial genesis in the adult and aging brain, and the impact of aging on the development of radiationinduced brain injury in cancer patients treated with whole brain irradiation. His studies are supported by grants from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute on Aging. In addition to his research program, Dr. Riddle is active in graduate and medical education at the WFUSM, receiving the New Investigator in Basic Science Award in 2003 and the Award for Teaching Excellence in 2005.