Sandy Saunders, PhD

Assistant Research Professor

  • BS: University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
  • Ph.D.: University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship: University of North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship: University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri

Email: sesf8g@missouri.edu
Office: Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, 1500 Research Park Dr, Columbia, MO 65211

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RESEARCH INTERESTS

Neural control of cardiorespiratory output, Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, Corticotropin-releasing hormone neurons, Neuronal adaptation to stressors

I am a cardiorespiratory neurophysiologist interested in how brainstem motor circuits adapt to physiological and pathological stressors to promote health or drive disease. My research takes a systems-level approach to understand how changes in cellular function impact neural circuits and ultimately influence whole-animal physiology. To accomplish this, I combine brain slice patch‑clamp electrophysiology with acute and chronic in vivo recordings of electrocardiogram, electroencephalogram, and respiration. Through optogenetic and chemogenetic manipulation of central cardiorespiratory circuits, I aim to define the functional roles of specific brainstem pathways at rest and how these roles shift following perturbation.

My current research investigates how hyperactive central stress circuits promote neuronal vulnerability within brainstem cardiorespiratory reflex pathways to increase risk of cardiorespiratory arrest following seizures in a novel murine model of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP).

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Complete list of publications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/sandy.saunders.1/bibliography/public/

  • Wang, Y. B.*, Saunders, S. E.*, Campbell, J. N., & Boychuk, C. R. (2025). Cardiac vagal motor neurons. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 93, 103068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2025.103068 *[joint first authors]
  • Dos Santos, K. M., Saunders, S. E., Antunes, V. R., Boychuk, C. R. (2024). Insulin activates parasympathetic hepatic-related neurons of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus through mTOR signaling. J. Neurophysiol. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00284.2024
  • Saunders, S. E., & Santin, J. M. (2024). Hibernation reduces GABA signaling in the brainstem to enhance motor activity of breathing at cool temperatures. BMC Biol. 22(1), 251. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-024-02050-5
  • Saunders, S. E., & Santin, J. M. (2023). Activation of respiratory-related bursting in an isolated medullary section from adult bullfrogs. J. Exp. Biol. 226(18), jeb245951. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.245951
  • Saunders, S. E., Baekey, D. M., & Levitt, E. S. (2022). Fentanyl effects on respiratory neuron activity in the dorsolateral pons. J. Neurophysiol. 128(5), 1117–1132. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00113.2022
  • Saunders, S. E., & Levitt, E. S. (2020). Kölliker-Fuse/Parabrachial complex mu opioid receptors contribute to fentanyl-induced apnea and respiratory rate depression. Respir. Physiol. Neurobiol. 275, 103388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resp.2020.103388