​​​​​​​Benjamin Ragen is an Editor for the BMC-series and has been the Editor of BMC Neuroscience since 2017.

Before joining BioMed Central, he received his PhD in Psychology at University of California at Davis, which was followed by a post-doctoral position at New York University Langone Medical Center and a second post-doctoral position at New York University.  Ben’s focus on biological psychology has involved studies on psychoneuroendocrinology, the opiate system, the neurobiology of monogamy in nonhuman primates, and pharmacological treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder.

Cognition and behavior: in vitro or in vivo brain repair

Dr. Anthony E. Kline received both his Masters and Doctoral degrees in Psychology/Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1996 and 1998, respectively. He has been at the University of Pittsburgh since 1998 where he began as a Visiting Research Associate in the Department of Neurological Surgery and the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research. In 2002, he joined the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, where he is currently a full Professor with Tenure.
Dr. Kline’s research interests include neurobehavioral recovery and learning after experimental traumatic brain injury (TBI). Therapeutic strategies that include pharmacotherapy and environmental enrichment are utilized alone or in combination in an attempt to restore function and/or attenuate TBI-induced deficits in male and female rats as well as adult and pediatric models. Another interest is the evaluation of pharmacological agents that may hinder the recovery process after TBI (e.g., antipsychotics). The long-term goals of the laboratory are to develop therapies that facilitate functional recovery after TBI and to elucidate potential mechanisms for the observed effects. Dr. Kline’s research is primarily funded by the NIH.
Dr. Kline is an International Behavioral Neuroscience Society Fellow and recently received the Distinguished Mentor Award from the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN) international organization at the Society for Neuroscience (SfN). The Mentor Award is given to a FUN member, in recognition of significant contributions as a mentor for young neuroscientists. He is also the current President-Elect for the National Neurotrauma Society. His tenure as President will run from July 2017-August 2018.

Cellular and molecular mechanisms

Distinguished Professor of Physiology & Biophysics and Psychiatry

University of Illinois Chicago, College of Medicine  and Research Service, Jesse Brown VAMC

Dr. Rasenick’s work has focused on G protein signaling in the nervous system.  He has been particularly interested in how G proteins and the cytoskeleton work in concert to modify synaptic shape and to form a molecular basis for depression and the action of antidepressant drugs. He is also founder of Pax Neuroscience, a company designed to develop and utilize depression biomarkers for diagnostics, treatment and drug development.  He is an elected fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Cuban Academy of Sciences.

In addition to research and teaching, Dr. Rasenick is active in public policy.  He currently chairs the Advocacy Committee for the American Brain Coalition. While a Robert Wood Johnson Fellow (1999-2000), he was a staff member with the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, (D Mass.).  He is also involved in international outreach for neuroscience. 

Neuroengineering

Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Section Editor Since April, 2016

Dr. Tong received the B.S. degree in radio technology from Xi’an Jiao Tong University, China, in 1995, the M.S. degree in turbine machine engineering and Ph.D. degree in biomedical engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, in 1998 and 2002, respectively. He was a post doctor in Biomedical Engineering Department, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from 2002 to 2005. His research interests include neural signal processing, neurophysiology of brain injury, and cortical optical imaging. He is the founding chair the IEEE EMBS international summer school of neural engineering. Prof. Tong is also an active Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing. Dr. Tong is the conference Chair of the 8th IEEE EMBS international conference of Neural Engineering (NER’2017).