Welcome to the Bellinger Lab! Here at the Cell and Molecular Biology Department of the University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine, our research team currently investigates the different roles of members of the selenoprotein family in brain function and neurological disorders. Selenoproteins are proteins that contain the strong antioxidant element selenium in the form of selenocysteine, 21st amino acid. We are examining the roles of these proteins in neuron physiology, synaptic plasticity, and in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Our ongoing research indicates that selenoproteins may be very important for synaptic development and function, and have found correlations of specific selenoproteins with neurodegenerative disorders.