- Gender:
- Female
Education, Residency and Internship
Education
- 1996
- Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, BS, Exercise Science, Magna cum Laude
- 2005
- Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, PhD in Neuroscience
Fellowship
- 2005
- Sensory Motor Performance Program, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicag, Postdoctoral Fellowship
- 2005
- Department of Physiology, Northwestern University, Chicago/Evanston, IL, Postdoctoral Fellowship
Honors & Awards
2007-2009 Craig H. Neilsen Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship Award
1997-1998 University Scholar in the Graduate School, Northwestern University
1996 Graduated Magna Cum Laude, Ithaca College
1996 Professional Excellence Award in Exercise and Sport Sciences, Ithaca College
1996 Foundation Award in Mathematics, Ithaca College
1996 Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, Ithaca College
1993 Freshman Award in Mathematics and Computer Science, Ithaca College
1993 Oracle Society (Freshman Honor Society), Ithaca College
1992-1996 Ithaca College 4yr Scholarship
Publications
Refereed Journals
Heckman CJ, Mottram C, Quinlan K, Theiss R, and Schuster J. (2009) Motoneuron excitability: The importance of neuromodulatory inputs. Clin Neurophysiol. (e-Pub ahead of print)
Theiss RD, Kuo JJ & Heckman CJ (2007) Persistent inward currents in rat ventral horn neurones. Journal of Physiology 580, 507-522.
(Commentary on publication in: Rose PK (2007) Persistence has its own reward: repetitive firing of action potentials in neurons. J of Physiol 580, 357.)
Theiss RD, Heckman CJ (2005) Systematic variation in effects of serotonin and norepinephrine on repetitive firing properties of ventral horn neurons. Neuroscience 134:803-815.
Chen D, Theiss RD, Ebersole K, Miller JF, Rymer WZ and Heckman CJ (2001) Spinal Interneurons That Receive Input From Muscle Afferents Are Differentially Modulated by Dorsolateral Descending Systems. J of Neurophysiol 85:1005-1008.
In preparation
Theiss, RD, Hornby, TG, Rymer, WZ, and Schmidt, BD, (2009) Riluzole decreases flexion withdrawal response in humans with chronic spinal cord injury. in preparation.
Research Interests
spinal cellular mechanisms underlying hyperactive reflexes and loss of motor control in human chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). In particular, she is interested in muscle activity and force production during involuntary movements (e.g. reflex responses) and voluntary movements (e.g. maximum strength) and is investigating differences within these motor control factors between individuals with SCI and individuals without neurological injuries. In addition, she is researching the impact of persistent cellular conductances that may contribute to these differences by using specific medications known to decrease these conductances in animal studies
