Neuroscience

Dr. Lindsay Hayes investigates how prenatal inflammation reprograms microglia development contributing to risk and resilience against neurodevelopmental and neurologic disorders

Dr. Jonathan VanRyzin seeks to understand how microglia and astrocytes sculpt neural circuits during adolescent critical periods that have consequences on underlying motivated behavior.

Dr. Julie Van De Weghe studies how causal genetic variants for the neurodevelopmental disorder Joubert syndrome mediate cellular dysfunction underlying disease.

Dr. Jody Summers explores how environmental manipulations reshape eye development.

Dr. Mohiuddin Ahmad studies the mechanisms regulating oxytocin receptor and glutamate receptor trafficking and their impact on neuronal activity and synaptic plasticity.

Dr. Huxing Cui studies hypothalamic circuits and signaling mechanisms that regulate body homeostasis.

Dr. Martin-Paul Agbaga studies the role of very long chain fatty acids in regulating retinal photoreceptor structure and function.

Dr. Xi-Qin Ding investigates the signaling pathways governing photoreceptor health and degeneration using mouse genetics, electrophysiology, and transcriptomic and metabolomic approaches.

Dr. David Sherry studies neuronal and synaptic organization in health and neurodegenerative disease.

Dr. Xinxing Zhang explores how the nervous system senses and processes external and internal cues to generate physiological and behavioral responses that maintain body fluid and micronutrient homeostasis.

Dr. Yiyang Gong develops new biosensors and imaging-based tools for visualizing signaling activity at the cellular and sub-cellular scales.

Dr. Shannon Conley studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying vascular cognitive impairment and dementia during aging with a focus on the neurovascular unit.

Dr. Audrey Cleuren focuses on endothelial dysfunction as a driver of neurodegenerative disease and brain dysfunction during aging using mouse models and multiomic approaches.