Woodrow L Shew

Woodrow L Shew is an Associate Professor at the Department of Physics, University of Arkansas, with research at the interface of neuroscience and statistical physics. His work explores criticality in cortical networks, focusing on how operating near phase transitions optimizes information processing, sensory integration, and motor coordination.

• Ph.D. in Physics, University of Maryland (2004)
• BA in Physics, College of Wooster (1998)

Research spans criticality, neuronal avalanches, nonlinear dynamics, and network topology. His lab combines electrophysiology, optogenetics, and computational modeling to study sensory processing, motor cortex dynamics, and olfactory coding.

Key findings include the link between scale-free cortical dynamics and behavioral variability, the role of inhibition in maintaining criticality, and the disruption of critical dynamics in Rett syndrome. Collaborations with the Hengen lab at Wash U and researchers like Cheng Ly (VCU) and Andrea Barreiro (SMU) underscore his interdisciplinary approach.

Grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and Arkansas Bioscience Institute support his work. Notable lab members include postdoc Shree Hari Gautam, undergrad J. Sam Sooter, and Ph.D. students V. Kindler Norman and Ehsan Ziarati.