Gross Lab
The Gross Lab studies how diverse genetic and environmental risk factors converge on shared molecular pathways that contribute to neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders, including epilepsy, intellectual disability, and autism spectrum disorders. Our goal is to understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate healthy brain function and leverage this knowledge to develop novel therapeutic strategies. Employing mouse models and human iPSC-derived neurons, our lab studies the effects of genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors on neuronal function in health and disease.
Shared regulatory pathways that are altered across diverse neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders are promising targets for therapeutic intervention. Our work focuses on how microRNA-mediated gene regulation and intracellular signaling pathways such as PI3K/mTOR regulate neuronal function and become disrupted in disease. The lab's research spans from identifying the molecular mechanisms to developing arising from genetic or environmental factors.
We anticipate that these projects will advance basic science by revealing fundamental mechanisms regulating neuronal function while also informing the development of novel RNA-based and genetic therapies for neurological disorders.
