Neuroscience Research Center
Faculty Labs

Working Across the Spectrum of Research

The Neuroscience Research Center brings together basic scientists conducting fundamental, hypothesis-driven research with translational scientists developing new therapies and clinician-scientists working to advance these therapies to patients. Learn more about the research being conducted in our faculty labs.

Our Labs

Aronow Lab

The Aronow Lab focuses on finding or supporting efforts to solve problems relevant to genomic medicine by developing, both independently and collaboratively, new algorithms, tools and methodologies in translational bioinformatics. To this effect, we deal with several aspects of bioinformatics, ranging from gene regulatory networks to systems biology of normal and perturbed states.

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Crone Lab

The goal of the Crone Lab is to develop novel treatment strategies targeting neural circuits to restore breathing following injury or disease. The lab uses a variety of techniques to identify neurons important for the control of respiratory muscles and identify molecules in those neurons that have the potential to serve as drug targets to improve breathing.

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Danzer Lab

The primary goal of the Danzer Lab is to understand how the normal brain becomes epileptic. We seek to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind the development of epilepsy. If these mechanisms can be understood, then new treatments and therapies can be designed to prevent – and ultimately cure – epilepsy.

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Erickson Lab

The Erickson Lab focuses on integrating research into clinical practice in individuals of all ages with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), and Angelman Syndrome (AS). The research team is composed of psychiatrists, neuroscientists, psychologists, speech pathologists, and research coordinators who are interested in improving the quality of life for individuals with developmental disorders.

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Evanson Lab

The core problem the Evanson lab is trying to understand is how brain injuries impair brain metabolism, energy handling and cellular stress, and what can be done to correct these impairments.

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Fernandez Lab

The Fernandez Lab is broadly interested in understanding how the body and brain encode environmental stimuli, such as daily changes in light and feeding patterns, to timely coordinate physiology and behavior.

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Gebelein Lab

The Gebelein Lab investigates developmental biology, gene expression regulation, neural cell-fate specification, mechanisms patterning the early embryo and the mechanisms underlying Notch signaling, with a specific emphasis on modeling the disease alleles of Adams-Oliver syndrome.

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Gross Lab

The overall goal of the Gross Lab is to identify and study shared pathological mechanisms underlying brain disorders like epilepsy and autism of different etiologies, and to use this knowledge to develop therapeutic treatment approaches.

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Hogenesch Lab

The Hogenesch Lab focuses on the genetics of circadian timing in animal models and humans.

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Hunter Lab

The Hunter Lab studies hearing development from birth through adolescence and the impact on neurodevelopmental outcomes through electrophysiologic, imaging and behavioral techniques. Current studies include prematurity, cystic fibrosis, autism, and neurodevelopmental disorders.

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Jankowski Lab

The Jankowski Lab is interested in the mechanisms of nociceptive processing across the lifespan. We have particular interests in peripheral mechanisms of musculoskeletal pain and non-neuronal communication with the peripheral nervous system.

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Lang Lab

The Lang Lab investigates several aspects of mammalian eye development, including lens induction and morphogenesis as well as vascular regression and angiogenesis.

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Lu Lab

A major focus of the Lu Lab is to elucidate the transcriptional, posttranscriptional, epigenetic, and signaling networks that govern development, remyelination, and tumor formation in the CNS and PNS.

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Mangano/Nakamura Lab

Research in the Mangano/Nakamura Lab is directed at understanding pathogenesis of pediatric hydrocephalus that will lead us to develop new surgical and medical treatment options to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

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McAuliffe Lab

The McAuliffe Lab seeks to evolve an in-vitro system to better understand the mechanisms of malignant hyperthermia susceptibility (MHS), a severe reaction to anesthesia. Our goal is to enable diagnosis of MHS without the need for invasive tests.

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Moore Lab

The Moore Lab studies human auditory, language and speech science with a focus on children. We use approaches including neuroimaging, EEG, psychoacoustics, physiological and behavioral methods in audiology, self- and caregiver-report, clinical trials, and community outreach.

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Ratner Lab

The Ratner Lab seeks to define the interactions between glial cells and axons during nervous system development and to learn how those interactions go awry in disease. Our goal is to provide novel therapies to patients with neurofibromatosis and other nervous system diseases.

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Robinson Lab

The Robinson Lab studies how brain circuits involved in motivation, reward, and attentional control are dysregulated in mouse models of Rasopathy syndromes, such as neurofibromatosis type 1 and Noonan syndrome. We also develop adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapies to treat these genetic disorders.

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Skelton Lab

The Skelton Lab focuses on the metabolic effects of creatine transporter deficiency and bipolar disorder.

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Skoch Lab

The Skoch Lab is focused on utilizing optical imaging techniques to better understand how seizures and spreading depolarizations travel through the brain and to develop improved techniques to localize epileptic zones in surgical patients.

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Sun Lab

The Sun Lab is focused on understanding the pathogenesis of Gaucher and other lysosomal storage diseases for development of specific therapies. In addition, we seek to delineate the mechanism of prosaposin/saposins in glycosphingolipid metabolism and neurodegeneration.

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Tchieu Lab

The Tchieu Lab investigates the role of glial cells in development and disease using the directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells as a model. The goal of this research is to identify mechanisms involved in glial competency, uncover the diversity of glia in humans and the role of glial cells in neurodevelopmental disease.

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Vadivelu Lab

The Vadivelu Lab conducts translational studies to better understand the complexity of the neurovascular niche as it related to neural development and stroke.

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Vorhees/Williams Lab

The Vorhees/Williams Lab focuses on understanding how mutations in brain-specific genes/proteins, environmental agents, and proton radiation adversely affect the developing brain leading to neurological and cognitive disorders.

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Meet the Faculty