Harold Zakon

Dr. Harold Zakon is a Professor in the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin, affiliated with the Section of Neurobiology. His research focuses on the function, regulation, and evolution of voltage-dependent ion channels, using electric fish as a primary model organism. His lab investigates how these channels are modulated by hormones and social factors to produce precise electric organ discharges (EODs) for communication and behavior.

His work spans neuroethology, molecular evolution, and comparative physiology, with recent publications examining potassium channel voltage dependence, toxin resistance evolution in poison frogs, and thermosensory adaptations in Antarctic fishes. Current projects explore gene regulation in electric organs and the evolutionary origins of neural system complexity.

The Zakon lab utilizes freely behaving electric fish to study dynamic biophysical events in excitable membranes, linking cellular mechanisms to whole-animal behavior. Their research has implications for understanding evolutionary convergence, neurotoxin resistance, and sensory-motor adaptation.