Neurobiology
Research in this area focuses on the development of the peripheral and central nervous systems and how intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence behavior.
- Nadean Brown, PhD, investigates mechanisms of cell fate specification in the mouse and Drosophila retina. Projects focus on the function and regulation of bHLH transcription factors that promote particular retinal neuron fates.
Visit the Brown lab site. - Chiou-Fen Chuang, PhD, is interested in understanding how a tremendous diversity of neurons is generated, the first step in wiring complex circuits and networks. She studies the simple nervous system in the small roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, composed of just 302 neurons, to uncover fundamental mechanisms that are likely to be used in our own brain.
Visit the Chuang lab site. - Tiffany Cook, PhD, studies cell type specification using the Drosophila retina as a model. The lab is focused on cell-specific gene regulation, and uses a combination of developmental genetics and biochemistry to understand the role of various transcription factors during eye development.
Visit the Cook lab site. - Kenneth Campbell, PhD, studies the molecular genetic control of mouse forebrain development with a particular focus on the generation of neuronal diversity in the ventral telencephalon.
- Brian Gebelein, PhD, is studying the Hox transcription factor family using the fruit fly as a model organism. The goal of the lab is to use a combination of genetic and biochemical approaches to understand how the eight different Drosophila Hox genes recognize the appropriate downstream genes to specify different cell fates along the anterior-posterior axis. Visit the Gebelein lab site.
- Chia-Yi Kuan, MD, PhD, studies the mechanism of neuronal cell death following cerebral ischemia-hypoxia, and means to stimulate adult neurogenesis for cell replacement. These studies involve a broad spectrum of disciplines including genetic, biochemical, physiological, histological, cell biology, and MRI imaging techniques.
- Masato Nakafuku, MD, PhD, studies development and regeneration of the mammalian central nervous system focusing on neural stem cells. His lab seeks to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neural development, and also to develop new therapeutic strategies to cure neurological diseases by applying stem cell technology.
Visit the Nakafuku lab site.
