Independent Labs, Institutes, and Centers (Dean of Research)


Showing 1,501-1,550 of 2,070 Results

  • Matthew Porteus

    Matthew Porteus

    Sutardja Chuk Professor of Definitive and Curative Medicine

    BioDr. Porteus was raised in California and was a local graduate of Gunn High School before completing A.B. degree in “History and Science” at Harvard University where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and wrote an thesis entitled “Safe or Dangerous Chimeras: The recombinant DNA controversy as a conflict between differing socially constructed interpretations of recombinant DNA technology.” He then returned to the area and completed his combined MD, PhD at Stanford Medical School with his PhD focused on understanding the molecular basis of mammalian forebrain development with his PhD thesis entitled “Isolation and Characterization of TES-1/DLX-2: A Novel Homeobox Gene Expressed During Mammalian Forebrain Development.” After completion of his dual degree program, he was an intern and resident in Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and then completed his Pediatric Hematology/Oncology fellowship in the combined Boston Chidlren’s Hospital/Dana Farber Cancer Institute program. For his fellowship and post-doctoral research he worked with Dr. David Baltimore at MIT and CalTech where he began his studies in developing homologous recombination as a strategy to correct disease causing mutations in stem cells as definitive and curative therapy for children with genetic diseases of the blood, particularly sickle cell disease. Following his training with Dr. Baltimore, he took an independent faculty position at UT Southwestern in the Departments of Pediatrics and Biochemistry before again returning to Stanford in 2010 as an Associate Professor. During this time his work has been the first to demonstrate that gene correction could be achieved in human cells at frequencies that were high enough to potentially cure patients and is considered one of the pioneers and founders of the field of genome editing—a field that now encompasses thousands of labs and several new companies throughout the world. His research program continues to focus on developing genome editing by homologous recombination as curative therapy for children with genetic diseases but also has interests in the clonal dynamics of heterogeneous populations and the use of genome editing to better understand diseases that affect children including infant leukemias and genetic diseases that affect the muscle. Clinically, Dr. Porteus attends at the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital where he takes care of pediatric patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

  • Ellen Porzig

    Ellen Porzig

    Professor (Teaching) of Developmental Biology, Emerita

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEarly Human Developmental Biology:
    From Egg to Embryo
    Organogenesis: Pattern formation
    Sex Determination in Embryogenesis

  • Lisa Post

    Lisa Post

    Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioDr. Lisa Post, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in the treatment of anxiety, depression and adjustment disorders in adults. She has been a practicing clinician at Stanford Hospital and Clinics since 1993. Since 2000, she has been Director of a clinical program for Stanford Varsity Athletes and for nine years has been the Team Clinician for the San Francisco 49ers. Her primary interest are in the treatment of high performing individuals and in stress management.

  • Kathleen Poston, MD, MS

    Kathleen Poston, MD, MS

    Edward F. and Irene Thiele Pimley Professor of Neurology and the Neurological Sciences and Professor, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research addresses one of the most devastating and poorly treated symptoms that can develop in people with Parkinson's disease - Dementia. We use multi-modal neuroimaging along with genetic and biological markers to understand the different underlying causes of dementia and to understand why dementia develops more quickly in some patients, but not others.

  • Manu Prakash

    Manu Prakash

    Associate Professor of Bioengineering, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Associate Professor, by courtesy, of Oceans and of Biology

    BioWe use interdisciplinary approaches including theory and experiments to understand how computation is embodied in biological matter. Examples include cognition in single cell protists and morphological computing in animals with no neurons and origins of complex behavior in multi-cellular systems. Broadly, we invent new tools for studying non-model organisms with significant focus on life in the ocean - addressing fundamental questions such as how do cells sense pressure or gravity? Finally, we are dedicated towards inventing and distributing “frugal science” tools to democratize access to science (previous inventions used worldwide: Foldscope, Abuzz), diagnostics of deadly diseases like malaria and convening global citizen science communities to tackle planetary scale environmental challenges such as mosquito surveillance or plankton surveillance by citizen sailors mapping the ocean in the age of Anthropocene.

  • Guillem Pratx

    Guillem Pratx

    Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology (Radiation Physics)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Physical Oncology Lab is interested in making a lasting impact on translational cancer research by building novel physical tools and methods.

  • James Priest

    James Priest

    Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics - Cardiology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Priest lab seeks a better understanding of the genetics and pathogenesis of congenital heart disease using translational genomics, big-data, and vertebrate models of cardiac development.

  • David Prince

    David Prince

    Edward F. and Irene Thiele Pimley Professor of Neurology and the Neurological Sciences, Emeritus

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsExperiments examine
    1)intrinsic properties of neuronal membranes; actions of neurotransmitters that regulate neocortical and thalamic excitability
    2) chronic epileptogenesis following cortical injury; changes in intracortical connectivity and receptors;
    3) effects of early injury and activity on cortical development/maldevelopment Electrophysiological, anatomical and pharmacological techniques employed.
    4. prophylaxis of postraumatic epilepsy
    5. Neocortical interneuronal function/modulation

  • John R. Pringle

    John R. Pringle

    Professor of Genetics

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMuch of our research exploits the power of yeast as an experimentally tractable model eukaryote to investigate fundamental problems in cell and developmental biology such as the mechanisms of cell polarization and cytokinesis. In another project, we are developing the small sea anemone Aiptasia as a model system for study of the molecular and cellular biology of dinoflagellate-cnidarian symbiosis, which is critical for the survival of most corals but still very poorly understood.

  • Jonathan Pritchard

    Jonathan Pritchard

    Bing Professor of Population Studies, Professor of Genetics and Biology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe are interested in a broad range of problems at the interface of genomics and evolutionary biology. One current focus of the lab is in understanding how genetic variation impacts gene regulation and complex traits. We also have long-term interests in using genetic data to learn about population structure, history and adaptation, especially in humans.

    FOR UP-TO-DATE DETAILS ON MY LAB AND RESEARCH, PLEASE SEE: http://pritchardlab.stanford.edu

  • Carla Pugh, MD, PhD

    Carla Pugh, MD, PhD

    Thomas Krummel Professor

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Technology Enabled Clinical Improvement (T.E.C.I.) Center is a multidisciplinary team of researchers dedicated to the design and implementation of advanced engineering technologies that facilitate data acquisition relating to clinical performance.

  • Joseph (Jody) Puglisi

    Joseph (Jody) Puglisi

    Jauch Professor and Professor of Structural Biology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Puglisi group investigates the role of RNA in cellular processes and disease. We investigate dynamics using single-molecule approaches. Our goal is a unified picture of structure, dynamics and function. We are currently focused on the mechanism and regulation of translation, and the role of RNA in viral infections. A long-term goal is to target processes involving RNA with novel therapeutic strategies.

  • Patrick Lee Purdon

    Patrick Lee Purdon

    Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine and, by courtesy, of Bioengineering

    BioMy research integrates neuroimaging, biomedical signal processing, and the systems neuroscience of general anesthesia and sedation.

    My group conducts human studies of anesthesia-induced unconsciousness, using a variety of techniques including multimodal neuroimaging, high-density EEG, and invasive neurophysiological recordings used to diagnose medically refractory epilepsy. We also develop novel methods in neuroimaging and biomedical signal processing to support these studies, as well as methods for monitoring level of consciousness under general anesthesia using EEG.

  • Lei (Stanley) Qi

    Lei (Stanley) Qi

    Associate Professor of Bioengineering

    BioDr. Lei (Stanley) Qi is Associate Professor of Bioengineering, Sarafan ChEM-H, and a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator. Dr. Qi is a principal contributor to the development of CRISPR technologies for genome engineering beyond gene editing. His lab created the first nuclease-deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) for targeted gene regulation in cells. His lab has invented a CRISPR toolbox for engineering the epigenome, including CRISPRi and CRISPRa for targeted gene repression and activation, epigenome editing, LiveFISH for real-time DNA/RNA imaging, CRISPR-GO for 3D genome manipulation, CasMINI as a compact CRISPR system for gene therapy, hyperCas12a for multi-gene engineering, and CRISPR antivirals aimed at treating broad RNA viruses.

    Dr. Qi obtained B.S. in Physics and Math from Tsinghua University in 2005, and Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2012. He was a Systems Biology Faculty Fellow at UCSF between 2012-2014, and joined Stanford faculty in 2014. His research focuses on mammalian synthetic biology, epigenetic engineering, immune cell engineering, directed evolution, and novel approaches for gene therapy.

  • Jian Qin

    Jian Qin

    Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering

    BioJian Qin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Stanford University. His research focuses on development of microscopic understanding of structural and physical properties of soft matters by using a combination of analytical theory, scaling argument, numerical computation, and molecular simulation. He worked as a postdoctoral scholar with Juan de Pablo in the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago and with Scott Milner in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota under the supervision of David Morse and Frank Bates. His research covers self-assembly of multi-component polymeric systems, molecular origin of entanglement and polymer melt rheology, coacervation of polyelectrolytes, Coulomb interactions in dielectrically heterogeneous electrolytes, and surface charge polarizations in particulate aggregates in the absence or presence of flow.

  • Xiaojie Qiu

    Xiaojie Qiu

    Assistant Professor of Genetics

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsAt the Qiu Lab, our mission is to unravel and predict the intricacies of gene regulatory networks and cell-cell interactions pivotal in mammalian cell fate transitions over time and space, with a special emphasis on heart evolution, development, and disease. We are a dynamic and interdisciplinary team, harnessing the latest advancements in machine learning as well as single-cell and spatial genomics by integrating the predictive power of systems biology with the scalability of machine learning,

  • Stephen Quake

    Stephen Quake

    Lee Otterson Professor in the School of Engineering and Professor of Bioengineering, of Applied Physics and, by courtesy, of Physics

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsSingle molecule biophysics, precision force measurement, micro and nano fabrication with soft materials, integrated microfluidics and large scale biological automation.

  • Thomas Quertermous, MD

    Thomas Quertermous, MD

    William G. Irwin Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsUnderstanding genetic basis of cardiovascular function and disease.

  • Sean Quirin

    Sean Quirin

    Assistant Professor (Research) of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Major Laboratories and Clinical & Translational Neurosciences Incubator)

    BioDr. Quirin's laboratory develops minimally invasive methods to explore the causal role individual neurons play in the emergence of behavior. To this end, the lab's strength is the development of techniques which manipulate light to both detect and restoratively modulate brain activity down to the single-neuron scale. His lab continues to innovate with new tools which map these functional relationships onto the molecular and anatomical architecture of the brain. Utilizing these techniques, the lab aims to characterize how ensembles of neurons coordinate to encode and communicate information throughout the brain for sensing and behavior.

  • Jennifer Anne Rabbitts

    Jennifer Anne Rabbitts

    Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative & Pain Medicine (Pediatric Anesthesia) and, by courtesy, of Pediatrics

    BioJennifer Rabbitts, MD is Professor and Chief of Pediatric Pain Management at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Rabbitts directs an NIH-funded research laboratory focused on improving long-term pain and health outcomes in children and adolescents undergoing surgery. Her research is devoted to understanding and preventing chronic postsurgical pain, a disabling condition affecting 20% youth undergoing major surgery. Her current research studies investigate the role of biopsychosocial mechanisms including child psychosocial factors, parental/family factors, and psychophysical processes underlying acute to chronic pain transition. Current clinical trials focus on testing feasibility and efficacy of psychosocial and complementary and integrative interventions to improve acute postsurgical pain and prevent transition to chronic pain.

    Dr Rabbitts is passionate about mentoring, serving as mentor for the Women's Empowerment and Leadership Initiative and for the Mission Driven Mentoring Program for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia. She serves as section editor for Psychology, Psychiatry and Brain Neuroscience Section for Pain Medicine, on the editorial boards for Pediatric Anesthesia and Journal of Pain, and actively serves on committees in the United States Association for the Study of Pain.

  • Marlene Rabinovitch

    Marlene Rabinovitch

    Dwight and Vera Dunlevie Professor of Pediatric Cardiology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur research program seeks to identify the cellular and molecular programs regulating vascular and lung development, through the use of cultured cells and tissues and mouse and rat models. We then determine how these programs are perturbed by genetic abnormalities or injurious processes associated with disease, focusing on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a fatal complication in children with heart defects, and a condition of unknown etiology primarily in young women.

  • Srinivas Raghu

    Srinivas Raghu

    Professor of Physics

    BioI am interested in the emergent behavior of quantum condensed matter systems. Some recent research topics include non-Fermi liquids, quantum criticality, statistical mechanics of strongly interacting and disordered quantum systems, physics of the half-filled Landau level, quantum Hall to insulator transitions, superconductor-metal-insulator transitions, and the phenomenology of quantum materials.

    Past contributions that I'm particularly proud of include the co-founding of the subject of topological photonics (with Duncan Haldane), scaling theories of non-Fermi liquid metals (with Shamit Kachru and Gonzalo Torroba), Euclidean lattice descriptions of Chern-Simons matter theories and their dualities in 2+1 dimensions (with Jing-Yuan Chen and Jun Ho Son), and 'dual' perspectives of quantum Hall transitions (with Prashant Kumar and Michael Mulligan).

  • Nilam Ram

    Nilam Ram

    Professor of Communication and of Psychology

    BioNilam Ram studies the dynamic interplay of psychological and media processes and how they change from moment-to-moment and across the life span.

    Nilam’s research grows out of a history of studying change. After completing his undergraduate study of economics, he worked as a currency trader, frantically tracking and trying to predict the movement of world markets as they jerked up, down and sideways. Later, he moved on to the study of human movement, kinesiology, and eventually psychological processes - with a specialization in longitudinal research methodology. Generally, Nilam studies how short-term changes (e.g., processes such as learning, information processing, emotion regulation, etc.) develop across the life span, and how longitudinal study designs contribute to generation of new knowledge. Current projects include examinations of age-related change in children’s self- and emotion-regulation; patterns in minute-to-minute and day-to-day progression of adolescents’ and adults’ emotions; and change in contextual influences on well-being during old age. He is developing a variety of study paradigms that use recent developments in data science and the intensive data streams arriving from social media, mobile sensors, and smartphones to study change at multiple time scales.

  • Ashwin Ramayya, MD, PhD

    Ashwin Ramayya, MD, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery

    BioDr. Ramayya is an assistant professor in the Department of Neurosurgery. He specializes in the treatment of patients with chronic pain, movement disorders, epilepsy, and traumatic brain injury. His research program will focus on understanding brain mechanisms underlying pain experience and how to alleviate pain using brain stimulation.

    Dr. Ramayya specializes in neuromodulation, including deep brain stimulation (DBS), spinal cord stimulation, MRI-guided laser therapy, and focused ultrasound. Dr. Ramayya obtained his MD and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, where he also completed his neurosurgery residency and a fellowship in stereotactic and functional neurosurgery.

    His research efforts have identified neural substrates underlying learning, memory, and decision-making using computational behavioral modeling, neurophysiology, and neuroimaging.

    Dr. Ramayya has published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Neuroscience, NeuroImage, and Cerebral Cortex. He has also presented his work at national and international meetings, including those for the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Pan Philadelphia Neurosurgery Conference.

  • Thomas Rando, MD, PhD

    Thomas Rando, MD, PhD

    Professor of Neurology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms regulating stem cell function, the effects of aging on skeletal muscle and skeletal muscle stem cells, and the pathogenesis and experimental therapeutics for hereditary muscle diseases, specifically the muscular dystrophies.

  • Jianghong Rao

    Jianghong Rao

    Professor of Radiology (Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford) and, by courtesy, of Chemistry

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsProbe chemistry and nanotechnology for molecular imaging and diagnostics

  • Natalie L. Rasgon

    Natalie L. Rasgon

    Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (General Psychiatry and Psychology-Adult) at the Stanford University Medical Center, Emerita

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Rasgon has been involved in longitudinal placebo-controlled neuroendocrine studies for nearly two decades, and she has been involved in neuroendocrine and brain imaging studies of estrogen effects on depressed menopausal women for the last eight years. It should be noted that in addition to her duties as a Professor of Psychiatry and Obstetrics & Gynecology, Dr. Rasgon is also the Director of the Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Program and of the Women's Wellness Program.

  • Christine Raval

    Christine Raval

    Research Program Manager, Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI)

    BioChristine is a member of the research team at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI). She manages the HAI grant programs, student affinity initiative, and the operations of AI100, a 100-year effort to study and anticipate how the effects of AI will ripple through every aspect of how people work, live and play. Prior to joining Stanford, Christine worked on the digital learning team at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and as a case manager for newly arrived refugees in Omaha. Christine graduated with a Master of Public Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a BA in Justice and Society from Creighton University.

  • Jennifer L. Raymond

    Jennifer L. Raymond

    Berthold and Belle N. Guggenhime Professor

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe study the neural mechanisms of learning, using a combination of behavioral, neurophysiological, and computational approaches. The model system we use is a form of cerebellum-dependent learning that regulates eye movements.

  • Christopher Re

    Christopher Re

    Associate Professor of Computer Science
    On Leave from 04/01/2024 To 06/30/2024

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsAlgorithms, systems, and theory for the next generation of data processing and data analytics systems.

  • sean reardon

    sean reardon

    Professor of Poverty and Inequality in Education, Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and Professor, by courtesy, of Sociology
    On Leave from 01/01/2024 To 08/31/2024

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe causes and patterns of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic achievement disparities;

    The effects of school integration policies on segregation patterns and educational outcomes;

    Income inequality and its educational and social consequences.

    http://cepa.stanford.edu/sean-reardon

  • Lawrence Recht, MD

    Lawrence Recht, MD

    Professor of Neurology (Adult Neurology) and, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur laboratory focuses on two interrelated projects: (1) assessment of glioma development within the framework of the multistage model of carcinogenesis through utilization of the rodent model of ENU neurocarcinogenesis; and (2) assessment of stem cell specification and pluripotency using an embryonic stem cell model system in which neural differentiation is induced.

  • Kristy Red-Horse

    Kristy Red-Horse

    Professor of Biology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsCardiovascular developmental biology

  • David Rehkopf

    David Rehkopf

    Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health, of Medicine (Primary Care and Population Health) and, by courtesy, of Sociology, of Pediatrics and of Health Policy

    BioI am a social epidemiologist and serve as an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health and in the Department of Medicine in the Division of Primary Care and Population Health. I joined the faculty at Stanford School of Medicine in 2011.

    I am Director of the Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences. In this position, I am committed to making high-value data resources available to researchers across disciplines in order to better enable them to answer their most pressing clinical and population health questions.

    My own research is focused on understanding the health implications of the myriad decisions that are made by corporations and governments every day - decisions that profoundly shape the social and economic worlds in which we live and work. While these changes are often invisible to us on a daily basis, these seemingly minor actions and decisions form structural nudges that can create better or worse health at a population level. My work demonstrates the health implications of corporate and governmental decisions that can give the public and policy makers evidence to support new strategies for promoting health and well-being. In all of his work, I have a focus on the implications of these exposures for health inequalities.

    Since often policy and programmatic changes can take decades to influence health, my work also includes more basic research in understanding biological signals that may act as early warning signs of systemic disease, in particular accelerated aging. I examine how social and economic policy changes influence a range of early markers of disease and aging, with a particular recent focus on DNA methylation. I am supported by several grants from the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to develop new more sensitive ways to understand the health implications of social and economic policy changes.

  • Rob Reich

    Rob Reich

    McGregor-Girand Professor of Social Ethics of Science and Technology, Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for HAI, Professor, by courtesy, of Education, of Philosophy and Senior Fellow, by courtesy, at FSI
    On Leave from 10/01/2023 To 06/30/2024

    BioRob Reich is professor of political science and, by courtesy, professor of philosophy and at the Graduate School of Education. He is a co-director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (publisher of the Stanford Social Innovation Review), and associate director of the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. He was faculty director at the Center for Ethics in Society for eight years, and he continues to lead its ethics and technology initiatives.

    His scholarship in political theory engages with the work of social scientists and engineers. His newest work is on ethics and AI. His most recent books are System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot (with Mehran Sahami and Jeremy M. Weinstein, HarperCollins 2021) and Digital Technology and Democratic Theory (edited with Lucy Bernholz and Hélène Landemore, University of Chicago Press 2021). He has also written widely about philanthropy, including Just Giving: Why Philanthropy is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better (Princeton University Press, 2018) and Philanthropy in Democratic Societies: History, Institutions, Values (edited with Chiara Cordelli and Lucy Bernholz, University of Chicago Press, 2016). His early work is focused on democracy and education, including Bridging Liberalism and Multiculturalism in American Education (University of Chicago Press, 2002) and Education, Justice, and Democracy (edited with Danielle Allen, University of Chicago Press, 2013). He has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Wired, The Guardian, and the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

    Rob is the recipient of multiple teaching awards, including the Walter J. Gores award, Stanford’s highest honor for teaching. He was a sixth grade teacher at Rusk Elementary School in Houston, Texas before attending graduate school. He is a board member of the magazine Boston Review, of Giving Tuesday, and at the Spencer Foundation.

  • Richard J. Reimer, MD

    Richard J. Reimer, MD

    Associate Professor of Neurology (Adult Neurology)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsReimer Lab interests

    A primary interest of our lab is to understand how nerve cells make and recycle neurotransmitters, the small molecules that they use to communicate with each other. In better defining these processes we hope to achieve our long-term goal of identifying novel sites for treatment of diseases such as epilepsy and Parkinson Disease. In our studies on neurotransmitter metabolism we have focused our efforts on transporters, a functional class of proteins that move neurotransmitters and other small molecules across membranes in cells. Transporters have many characteristics that make them excellent pharmacological targets, and not surprisingly some of the most effective treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders are directed at transporters. We are specifically focusing on two groups of transporters – vesicular neurotransmitter transporters that package neurotransmitters into vesicles for release, and glutamine transporters that shuttle glutamine, a precursor for two major neurotransmitters glutamate and GABA, to neurons from glia, the supporting cells that surround them. We are pursuing these goals through molecular and biochemical studies, and, in collaboration with the Huguenard and Prince labs, through physiological and biosensor based imaging studies to better understand how pharmacological targeting of these molecules will influence neurological disorders.

    A second interest of our lab is to define mechanism underlying the pathology of lysosomal storage disorders. Lysosomes are membrane bound acidic intracellular organelles filled with hydrolytic enzymes that normally function as recycling centers within cells by breaking down damaged cellular macromolecules. Several degenerative diseases designated as lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are associated with the accumulation of material within lysosomes. Tay-Sachs disease, Neimann-Pick disease and Gaucher disease are some of the more common LSDs. For reasons that remain incompletely understood, these diseases often affect the nervous system out of proportion to other organs. As a model for LSDs we are studying the lysosomal free sialic acid storage disorders. These diseases are the result of a defect in transport of sialic acid across lysosomal membranes and are associated with mutations in the gene encoding the sialic acid transporter sialin. We are using molecular, genetic and biochemical approaches to better define the normal function of sialin and to determine how loss of sialin function leads to neurodevelopmental defects and neurodegeneration associated with the lysosomal free sialic acid storage disorders.