Dr. Vonder Haar’s research background is in behavioral neuroscience and his lab is particularly interested in psychiatric-like behavioral dysfunction. To study this, he works in rat models of traumatic brain injury (TBI) to better understand why behavioral impairment develops, persists, and evaluates therapeutics. His current NIH-funded research is focused on the role of dopamine dysfunction for chronic TBI symptoms.
Dr. Vonder Haar received his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University, researching therapeutics for TBI. He subsequently was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to conduct postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia. His postdoctoral research focused on links between chronic neuroinflammation and psychiatric-like dysfunction after TBI.
Prior to coming to Ohio State University, Dr. Vonder Haar was an Assistant Professor of Psychology at West Virginia University. He ran a laboratory involving graduate and undergraduate students. He was recently given an award for Distinction in Mentoring Undergraduate Research from WVU. He has taught several courses at the undergraduate (Drugs and Society, Physiological Psychology) and graduate level (Neuroscience Methods, Advanced Neuroscience, Grant Writing, Plasticity).
At OSU, he will expand his research program in brain injury as part of the Chronic Brain Injury Discovery Theme.
Welcome, Dr. Vonder Haar!