• James Nagy
  • Professor

    Max Rady College of Medicine
    Physiology and Pathophysiology
    Room 408 – Basic Medical Sciences Building
    745 Bannatyne Avenue
    University of Manitoba
    Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 0W2

    Phone: 204-789-3767
    Fax: 204-789-3934
    james.nagy@umanitoba.ca

Research themes 

  • Neuroscience and physiology
  • Electrical synapses in the central nervous system
  • Molecular structure of electrical synapses
  • Regulation of electrical synaptic transmission

Keywords

  • Brain and spinal cord
  • Electrical synapses and electrical coupling
  • Electrical synaptic transmission
  • Mixed chemical/electrical synapses
  • Gap junctions and connexins
  • Immunofluorescence imaging
  • Spinal cord injury

Research affiliations

  • Spinal Cord Research Center
  • Division of Neuroscience

Research groups

  • Principal investigator, neuroscience, Max Rady College of Medicine
  • Spinal Cord Research Center
  • International Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood from Care (INTRAC)
  • SPOR Evidence Alliance Research Network
  • Specialized Services for Children and Youth (SSCY) Research and Evaluation Committee

Research summary

Dr. James Nagy’s research program for over three decades has centered on gap junctions between cells in the CNS, and is currently focused on:

1) proteomic, molecular, biochemical and immunofluorescence imaging approaches to identify the multimolecular structural and regulatory protein composition of electrical synapses composed of connexin36, to determine the functions of those proteins, and to investigate intracellular signalling pathways and mechanisms that serve to regulate connexin assembly, degradation and turnover in gap junctions, and processes that regulate dynamic events of electrical synaptic transmission;

2) Identification of connexins expressed in neurons and related cells, delineation of sites where connexins form electrical synapses in mammalian neuronal circuitry and determination of the functional roles of those synapses in systems physiology.

Biography

Dr. Nagy is a full professor at UM.

He has over 200 peer-reviewed publications, and numerous book chapters and reviews, with 25 papers published in the last seven years.

His research has been supported by grants funding from NSERC, CIHR and NIH, and the impact is indicated by the >16,000 cumulative citations to his publications, with a resulting H-index of 73 (Google Scholar) achieved through a career-long commitment to venture into novel and challenging areas of neuroscience research.

His collaborative partnerships with industry over the last 25 years has resulted in the development of numerous high quality antibodies against CNS proteins, including widely used polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies against the family of 20 connexins.

Education

Dr. Nagy obtained his bachelor of science and master of science in biochemistry and his PhD in interdisciplinary neuroscience at the University of British Columbia.

He then conducted three years of postdoctoral studies at the University of Cambridge, England and an additional six months at the University of Toronto.

  • Postdoctoral fellow, University of Toronto
  • Postdoctoral fellow, University of Cambridge
  • PhD (neuroscience), University of British Columbia
  • Master of science (biochemisty), University of British Columbia
  • Bachelor of science (biochemistry), University of British Columbia

Awards

  • Huntington Society of Canada studentship
  • MRC of Canada post-doctoral scholarship 
  • MRC of Canada scholarship
  • MRC of Canada Scientist award
  • Rh Institute Award for Scholarship and Research Contributions in the Health Sciences

Dr. James Nagy In the news

Contact us

Physiology and Pathophysiology
432 Basic Medical Sciences Building
745 Bannatyne Avenue
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9 Canada

204-789-3696
204-789-3934