Rate My Professor Mark Rasenick

Mark M. Rasenick is UIC Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine. The thrust of his research over the past four decades has been the relationship between G protein signaling and the cytoskeleton and how this interaction might affect neurotransmitter response and responsiveness as well as synaptic plasticity and mood disorders. His thesis work concerned neurosecretion in insects and this led to an interest in 5HT signaling. As a postdoc, he discovered a relationship between G proteins and tubulin, a subject continued in subsequent investigations. This interest in tubulin led to work on the cytoskeleton, which led to investigation of cytoskeletal-associated membrane regions (lipid rafts) and their effects on signaling. Research has examined the importance of membrane heterogeneity in neurotransmitter signaling and learned that lipid rafts can either facilitate or dampen signaling, depending upon the species of receptor and G protein involved. This work also led to an interest in the effects of the plasma membrane lipid microenvironment and how it might affect signaling through G protein coupled receptors. This, coupled with a longstanding interest in the biology of depression and antidepressants, has allowed identification of a biomarker, now validated in both post-mortem and peripheral blood tissue, that can be harnessed for diagnosis and treatment of depression, as well as to predict appropriate therapy for the individual patient. He has been funded continuously since 1984 by the NIH, as well as by other federal agencies and industry sources. He has served on many scientific review panels and provided extensive editorial activities. He has received honors both for teaching and research, including the Searle Young Faculty Award from the Chicago Community Trust, the University Scholar Award and Distinguished Faculty Award from the University of Illinois, a Research Scientist Award from the NIMH, and a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship from the Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Rasenick is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and received the 2023 Anna Monika prize for depression research. Additionally, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Science of Cuba. In addition to research and teaching, he is active in public policy. He currently chairs the American Brain Coalition, which unites patients, providers and neuroscientists to combat stigma and increase neuroscience funding. While a Robert Wood Johnson Fellow (1999-2000), he was a staff member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions with the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy. He is also involved in international outreach for neuroscience and has organized programs designed to foster international cooperation in the basic and clinical neurosciences in Vietnam, Cuba and throughout Latin America.

Selected publications include Targum SD, Schappi J, Koutsouris A, Bhaumik R, Rapaport MH, Rasgon N, Rasenick MM. (2022) A novel peripheral biomarker for depression and antidepressant response. Mol Psychiatry; Wray NH, Schappi JM, Singh H, Senese NB, Rasenick MM. NMDAR-independent, cAMP-dependent antidepressant actions of ketamine. Mol Psychiatry. 2019; Menkes DB, Rasenick MM, Wheeler MA, Bitensky MW. Guanosine triphosphate activation of brain adenylate cyclase: enhancement by long-term antidepressant treatment. Science. 1983; Rasenick MM, Stein PJ, Bitensky MW. The regulatory subunit of adenylate cyclase interacts with cytoskeletal components. Nature. 1981; and Allen JA, Halverson-Tamboli RA, Rasenick MM. Lipid raft microdomains and neurotransmitter signalling. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2007.