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Marino Di Franco earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Universidad Central de Venezuela in 1986 and a PhD in Cell Physiology in 1991. He began his academic career as an Instructor at UCV in 1991. He subsequently progressed to Assistant Professor by 1995 and Associate Professor by 1999. He established his own laboratory, the Laboratory of Muscle Physiology Biophysics, focusing on the electrophysiology and calcium homeostasis of skeletal muscle. After relocating to the United States in 2002, he joined the Department of Physiology at UCLA, where he currently serves as an Adjunct Professor and Research Physiologist. His research interests include muscle physiology, specifically studying muscle electrophysiology and calcium homeostasis in health and disease, including conditions such as muscle dystrophy, myotonia, and malignant hyperthermia. He employs optogenetic techniques alongside electrophysiological and optical microscopy approaches to advance his research and aim to control muscle excitability and contraction in contexts where nerve input is absent.
Department of Economics admits primarily for the PhD program.