Dr. Michael Menaker

Dr. Michael Menaker is a Commonwealth Professor of Biology and former Chair of the Department at the University of Virginia. He has worked on circadian rhythmicity in vertebrates for forty years. His laboratory has made important contributions to the analysis of the circadian light-input pathway (extra-retinal photoreception in non-mammalian vertebrates; non-rod, non-cone inputs in mammals), pioneered the study of the circadian role of the pineal gland, discovered the first circadian mutant in a mammal (tau mutation in hamsters), and has recently described circadian rhythms of melatonin synthesis in isolated cultured mammalian retina and rhythms of circadian gene expression in SCN and peripheral tissues. He has trained many of the current leaders in the field, including Takahashi. More information...