Maureen W. McEnery, PhD, MAT

Maureen McEnery, PhD

Associate Professor of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Associate Professor of Neuroscience (secondary), Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Associate Professor of Psychiatry (secondary), Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Block Leader Second Year Medical Student Curriculum: "Cognition, Sensation, and Movement", Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Current Leadership and Service

Department of Neurology

Core Faculty, Neurology Resident Training Program, University Hospitals of Cleveland Medical Center
Member, Department of Neurology Committee on Appointment, Promotions, and Tenure
Member, Neurology Residency self-study committee for ACGME
Member, Professional Committee on Education (PEC)

Faculty Senate (University faculty governance)

Candidate, Chair-elect of the Faculty Senate, Case Western Reserve University Spring 2021
Senator, Faculty Senate, Case Western Reserve University
Member, Faculty Senate Bylaws Committee, Case Western Reserve University

Current Faculty Council (School of Medicine faculty governance)

Member, Faculty Council Nominations and Elections Committee, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Member, Faculty Council Steering Committee, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Specialty

Inherited disorders in excitation-secretion coupling
Mitochondrial transport and energy transduction
Foundational neuroscience
Innovations in medical education

Education and Training

Dept. of Physiological Biochemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; PhD
Staff Fellow; Laboratory of Cellular Metabolism, NHLBI, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
Post-doctoral Fellow, Dept. of Physiological Biochemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
Post-doctoral Fellow, Dept. of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
Miami University of Ohio, Miami, OH; Masters in Arts of Teaching (MAT)

Research Interests

Inherited disorders in excitation-secretion coupling
Mitochondrial transport and energy transduction
Implementing best practices in medical education
Innovations in medical education

Biography

Maureen W. McEnery, PhD, MAT is an Associate Professor of Neurology (tenured) with a secondary appointment in the Department of Neuroscience. Dr. McEnery began her career as a biochemist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The idea that all cells have membranes impermeant to water but can selectively permit the passage the proteins, protons, or other molecules captivated her from the moment she started her graduate studies. The cellular function of these transported molecules includes energy and information transduction, thus making the membrane transport and underlying proteins key targets of cellular regulation. In her PhD studies conducted in the lab of Dr. Pedersen, she contributed to the understanding of the subunit composition of the mitochondrial ATPase and the proton conducting pore as well as its unusually pharmacological characteristics.

After being awarded a PhD for these studies from the Dept of Physiology in the School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. McEnery accepted the post-doctoral position of Staff Fellow in the Laboratory of Cellular Metabolism in the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health in the lab of Dr. Martha Vaughan and Dr. Joel Moss. At this time, the focus of the laboratory research was the transduction of information across cell membranes that does not involve the physical movement of molecules, but rather involves changes in the ligand-induced change in the conformation of a specialized class of receptors, called metabotropic (G-protein linked) membrane receptors. At the NIH, Dr. McEnery's research focused on the purification of the G-proteins and adenylate cyclase using affinity chromatography.

Following her fascination with cellular systems for signal transduction, Dr. McEnery returned to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to join the laboratory of Solomon Snyder in the Dept of Neuroscience. In the Snyder lab, Dr. McEnery pursued the characterization of two very different transmembrane transport complexes implicated in human disorders: 1) the mitochondrial benzodiazepine receptor (mBzR) that is implicated in cell death signaling and 2) the presynaptic voltage-dependent calcium channel (Cav2.1 aka N-type VDCC) that is one of a larger family of VDCC implicated in excitation-secretion coupling, i.e. the process by which calcium channel permits calcium to enter a neuron in response to a change in membrane potential into a neuron is coupled to the secretion of neurotransmitters from synaptic vesicles. The results of these research projects contributed to the understanding of the subunit composition and localization of the mBzR in kidney and brain and the subunit composition and pharmacology of the N-type VDCC.

Upon relocating to Cleveland to take her first faculty position, both research projects were available to Dr. McEnery to pursue as an independent researcher. While moving up the ranks in the School of Medicine, Dr. McEnery received outside funding from various institutions and organizations. The expression of VDCC in development and disease became her major research area and the projects were supported by the production of numerous antibodies used in the investigation of VDCC expression in mice that expressed diseased phenotypes (movement disorders and seizure disorders) due to mutations in specific VDCC subunits. The key finding of this research was the observation that unpredicted compensatory expression of non-mutant VDCC subunits occurs in mutant mice in response to their respective genetic backgrounds. In short, the effects of a specific mutation reverberate throughout the brain and lead to an altered VDCC subunit expression, localization, and excitation-secretion coupling.

There are important implications of Dr. McEnery's findings with regard to the etiology, progression, and treatment of human neurological disorders linked to mutant genes that encode VDCC subunits (i.e. episodic ataxia type 2 (EA2), familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM), and spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6). Developmental disorders are also thought to be the result of altered VDCC expression (i.e. Timothy Syndrome). Although these aforementioned disorders have a very low incidence in the population, they challenge us to understand the intricacies of normal neuronal processes and how perturbations of these processes can lead to disease.

As an educator, Dr. McEnery conveys her passion for applied neuroscience, molecular processes, and cellular signaling to medical students and residents. As Block Leader for the second-year medical school course on Cognition, Sensation, and Movement (aka Block 6), she oversees the design and scheduling for the curriculum that includes principles of neuroscience, neurology, psychiatry and other disciplines. She works closely with clinical neurologists (Drs. Xiong and Chandar), other basic scientists (Dr. Friel) and numerous attending physicians to assemble a course that is highly regarded by exiting students. Neurology residents participate in Block 6 as both students and educators. In the past few years, the role of the PGY3 resident has been expanded to afford more opportunities for hone their emerging skills as teachers. Dr. McEnery has recently conducted research on Implementing best practices in medical education and Innovations in medical education (flipped classroom).