Denise Ramirez, Ph.D.

Download Curriculum Vitae

Denise Ramirez, Ph.D., studied brain cholesterol metabolism and its effects on learning and memory in the laboratory of Dr. David Russell, Ph.D., for her Ph.D. thesis. She then went on to study the role of novel SNARE proteins in spontaneous neurotransmission during postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Dr. Ege Kavalali, Ph.D. Dr. Ramirez was the founding Core Manager since 2014 and now serves as the Director of the UTSW Whole Brain Microscopy Facility (WBMF) in the Department of Neurology. She leverages her 17 years of hands-on optical imaging experience to facilitate the use of unique high-throughput volumetric imaging technologies and identify novel anatomical information to promote both basic and translational neuroscience. For more information on the WBMF, our instrumentation and services, please see the links to the right. I welcome you to contact me with any questions you may have about our facility.

denise.ramirez@utsouthwestern.edu

214-648-0203

Office location – NL10.125B

Undergraduate

Saint Mary's University (2003), Biology

Graduate School

UT Southwestern Medical Center (2009), Biology

• 3D reconstruction
• connectomics
• digital pathology
• histology
• image analysis
• neuroscience
• serial two-photon tomography
• stroke
• volumetric imaging

Featured Publications

B cells migrate into remote brain areas and support neurogenesis and functional recovery after focal stroke in mice.

Ortega SB, Torres VO, Latchney SE, Whoolery CW, Noorbhai IZ, Poinsatte K, Selvaraj UM, Benson MA, Meeuwissen AJM, Plautz EJ, Kong X, Ramirez DM, Ajay AD, Meeks JP, Goldberg MP, Monson NL, Eisch AJ, Stowe AM, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2020 Feb

Anatomy, Histology, and Nerve Density of Clitoris and Associated Structures: Clinical Applications to Vulvar Surgery.

Jackson LA, Hare AM, Carrick KS, Ramirez DMO, Hamner JJ, Corton MM, Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 2019 Jun

Visualization and Quantification of Post-stroke Neural Connectivity and Neuroinflammation Using Serial Two-Photon Tomography in the Whole Mouse Brain.

Poinsatte K, Betz D, Torres VO, Ajay AD, Mirza S, Selvaraj UM, Plautz EJ, Kong X, Gokhale S, Meeks JP, Ramirez DMO, Goldberg MP, Stowe AM, Front Neurosci 2019 13 1055

Serial Multiphoton Tomography and Analysis of Volumetric Images of the Mouse Brain

Ramirez DMO, Ajay DA, Goldberg MP and Meeks JP Multiphoton Microscopy 2019

Selective molecular impairment of spontaneous neurotransmission modulates synaptic efficacy.

Crawford DC, Ramirez DM, Trauterman B, Monteggia LM, Kavalali ET Nat Commun 2017 Feb 8 14436

Vti1a identifies a vesicle pool that preferentially recycles at rest and maintains spontaneous neurotransmission.

Ramirez DM, Khvotchev M, Trauterman B, Kavalali ET Neuron 2012 Jan 73 1 121-34

Neuronal expression and subcellular localization of cholesterol 24-hydroxylase in the mouse brain.

Ramirez DM, Andersson S, Russell DW J. Comp. Neurol. 2008 Apr 507 5 1676-93

Brain cholesterol turnover required for geranylgeraniol production and learning in mice.

Kotti TJ, Ramirez DM, Pfeiffer BE, Huber KM, Russell DW Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2006 Mar 103 10 3869-74

Reply.

Jackson LA, Hare AM, Carrick KS, Ramirez DMO, Hamner JJ, Corton MM, Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 2020 Sep

VAMP4 maintains a Ca²⁺-sensitive pool of spontaneously recycling synaptic vesicles.

Lin PY, Chanaday NL, Horvath PM, Ramirez DMO, Monteggia LM, Kavalali ET, J. Neurosci. 2020 Jun

 Featured Books

Serial Multiphoton Tomography and Analysis of Volumetric Images of the Mouse Brain. In Neuromethods - Multiphoton Microscopy

Ramirez DMO, Ajay DA, Goldberg MP and Meeks JP (2019). New York, New York, Springer

• Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities (ABRF) (2019)
• Society for Neuroscience (2009)