Mayur Parmar, Ph.D.

Education

Postdoctoral Associate – University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

Research Scientist – Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York

Ph.D. – Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

M.S. – Long Island University, New York, New York

B.Pharm. – Anand Pharmacy College, Gujarat, India

Mayur Parmar is an assistant professor in the Department of Basic Sciences at the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine. He is passionate about teaching pharmacology and physiology to medical students. He also teaches a physiology course to the Graduate Certificate in Health Professions Preparation students at the Tampa Bay Regional Campus. He is an assistant course director for the gastrointestinal and rheumatology system course. In addition to teaching, he is involved in multiple collaborative medical research projects with medical students. As a part of the college’s research practicum course, he is a faculty adviser to many student research groups. Working with several medical students, he is publishing research articles in the field of pharmacology and neuroscience.

As a neuroscientist, Parmar seeks to better understand the pathological mechanisms (molecular, genetic and cellular) underlying neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s) and the therapeutic interventions that halt disease progression. His professional research expertise includes multidisciplinary areas of biological sciences, including pharmacology, toxicology and molecular/cellular biology, with broad research experience in neuroscience.

Parmar received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology. His doctoral dissertation work focused on understanding the modulation of MAPK kinase signaling in dopaminergic brain regions (such as substantia nigra, striatum and ventral tegmental area) during normal aging. He discovered that ERK5 is vital for the survival of dopamine neurons. Afterward, he went to the Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, to work as a researcher in the field of neurodegenerative disease. At Cornell, he researched the role of apolipoprotein E in amyloid and tau pathologies using an adeno-associated virus gene delivery platform. He was also part of the research that used anti-tau monoclonal antibody PHF1 to reduce tau pathology in the transgenic mouse AD model.

As a postdoctoral associate at the University of Florida, he focused on research understanding the pathological mechanism of Parkinson’s disease and related disorders. Using cellular and preclinical models, he studied various Rab GTPases molecules that may enhance or ameliorate alpha-synuclein and tau pathology. He has extensively studied Rab GTPases’ role in tauopathies disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease and atypical parkinsonism (Parkinson-plus syndromes), including progressive supranuclear palsy. He is also interested in research focused on understanding the relationship between diabetes and neurodegeneration at the disease and molecular level.

As an assistant professor, Parmar is continuing his passion for research in the field of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Currently, he is interested in evaluating newly synthesized medicinal agents for their ability to prevent tau and synuclein aggregation, thereby, neurodegenerative diseases. Additionally, he has been a reviewer for the National Science Foundation, as well as for various peer-review journals.

Current Areas of Academic Teaching Focus

• Medicinal Physiology
• Pharmacology
• Osteopathic Research Practicum

Research interest

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Diabetes
• Parkinson’s disease
• Drug therapeutics evaluation