Associate Professor of Bioengineering and BioMedical Engineering, Georgia Tech Principal Investigator, Precision Biosystems Laboratory Facilitator of the Invention Studio

Forest conducts research on miniaturized, high-throughput robotic instrumentation to advance neuroscience and genetic science, working at the intersection of bioMEMS, precision machine design, optics, and microfabrication. Prior to Georgia Tech, he was a research fellow in Genetics at Harvard Medical School.

Web Information

Webpage: me.gatech.edu/faculty/forest Neuro@Tech Brain Initiative Grant

Contact Information

Email: craig.forest@me.gatech.edu Phone: 404-385-7645 Address: IBB Building, Room 1310

Biography

Education

Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007 M.S.M.E., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003 B.S.M.E., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2001

Background

Dr. Craig Forest joined the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering as an Assistant Professor in August 2008.  Since then he has established a research program focused on the creation and application of miniaturized, high-throughput robotic instrumentation to advance biomolecular science, along with the fundamental engineering that makes such instrumentation possible. Dr. Forest’s laboratory works at the intersection of bioMEMS, machine design, signal processing, optics, and manufacturing at the frontiers of the emerging bio-nano field. The development of instruments that can load, manipulate, and measure many biological samples at the resolution of single cells simultaneously with better accuracy and reliability than current approaches opens the door to essential, comprehensive biological system studies.

“New directions in science are ...

Professor. Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina Director, NIMH Psychoactive Drug Screening Program Director, Roth Lab

Roth studies all aspects of GPCR structure and function ranging from the atomic-level analysis of ligand-receptor interactions to in vivo studies. Currently we are focused on members of the serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) and opioid receptor families and their accessory proteins. Other goals are to discover and develop novel small molecule probes for in vitro and in vivo validation of molecular targets for therapeutic drug discovery.

 

Web Information

Webpage: med.unc.edu/pharm/people/primaryfaculty/bryan-roth-1 UNC Neuroscience BRAIN Initiative Grant – ” Dreadd2.0: An Enhanced Chemogenetic Toolkit”

Contact Information

Email: bryan_roth[at]med.unc.edu Phone: 919-966-7535 Address: 4072 Genetic Medicine UNC-CH School of Medicine Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7365

Biography

Carroll College, Helena MT BA 06/77 Biology and Chemistry St. Louis University Medical School, St. Louis, MO MD, PhD 06/83 Medicine and Biochemistry NIMH Lab of Preclinical Pharmacology, Washington, DC Postdoctoral Training 07/83-06/88 Pharmacology Stanford University Medical Center Psychiatry Residency 07/88-06/91 Psychiatry Nancy Pritzer Laboratory, Stanford University Fellowship

Research

Research Interests

GPCR Structure and Function Drug Discovery

Research Synopsis

GPCR structure and function

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent one of the most evolutionarily diverse superfamilies of the human genome. My lab studies all aspects of GPCR structure and function ranging from the atomic-level analysis of ligand-receptor interactions to in vivo studies. Currently we are focused on members of the serotonin ...

Senior Research Associate , Rockefeller University and Laboratory of Molecular Genetics 

The technology Stanley is developing would enable researchers to manipulate the activity of neurons, as well as other cell types, in freely moving animals in order to better understand what these cells do. Staley’s new nanoparticle-based technique has a unique combination of features that may enable new types of experimentation.

 

 

Web Information

Webpage: rockefeller.edu/research/faculty/labmembers/JeffreyFriedman/ Brain Initiative Grant

Contact Information

Email: Sarah.Stanley@rockefeller.edu Address: Address: The Rockefeller University 1230 York Avenue New York, NY 10065 (212) 327-8000

BRAIN Initiative Press Release

Rockefeller neurobiology lab is awarded first-round BRAIN initiative grant

Rockfeller Newswire 10/7/14

A proposal to develop a new way to remotely control brain cells from Sarah Stanley, a Research Associate in Rockefeller University’s Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, headed by Jeffrey M. Friedman, is among the first to receive funding from U.S. President Barack Obama’s BRAIN initiative. The project will make use of a technique called radiogenetics that combines the use of radio waves or magnetic fields with nanoparticles to turn neurons on or off.

The NIH is one of four federal agencies involved in the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) initiative. Following in the ambitious footsteps of the Human Genome Project, the BRAIN initiative seeks to create a dynamic map of ...

 

Professor of Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry, UC San Francisco Director,Rubenstein Lab

Rubenstein’s research focuses on the regulatory genes that orchestrate development of the forebrain. His lab has demonstrated the role of specific genes in regulating neuronal specification, differentiation, migration and axon growth during embryonic development and on through adult life. His work may help to explain some of the mechanisms underlying human neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.

 

Web Information

Webpage: physio.ucsf.edu/rubenstein/members/bios/jrubenstein.asp UCSF Neuroscience  BRAIN Initiative Grant – “Identification of enhancers whose activity defines cortical interneuron types”

Contact Information

Email: john.rubenstein@ucsf.edu Phone: 415-476-7862 Address: John L.R. Rubenstein, M.D., Ph.D. Genetics, Development and Behavioral Sciences Building 1550 4th Street, 2nd Floor South, Room GD 284C University of California at San Francisco San Francisco, CA 94143-2611:

Biography

M.D. Stanford University, 1983 PhD. Stanford University, 1982 Pasteur Institute, Postdoctoral Fellowship in Developmental Biology Stanford University, Residency in Adult Psychiatry Stanford University, Residency in Child Psychiatry

John L. R. Rubenstein, M.D., Ph.D. is the Nina Ireland Distinguished Professor in Child Psychiatry at UCSF. Dr. Rubenstein graduated in Chemistry from Stanford University, completed doctoral training in Biophysics at Stanford University, and postdoctoral research training in Developmental Biology at the Pasteur Institute and Stanford. Following graduation from Stanford School of Medicine, he completed his residency in Adult and Child Psychiatry at Stanford. In 1991 he joined the faculty at UCSF. Dr. Rubenstein is ...

 

Professor, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UC Los Angeles Director, X. William Yang Research Group

Yang is interested in using the mouse molecular genetic approach to study the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. One recurring theme in neurodegenerative diseases is that a widely expressed mutant protein can cause highly selective degeneration of a subset of neurons. The pathogenesis of such selective neurodegeneration remains unclear. Currently, we are focusing on Huntington’s disease (HD) to study the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the disease.

Web Information

Webpage: bioscience.ucla.edu/faculty/x-william-yang UCLA Neuroscience BRAIN Initiative Grant– “Novel Genetic Strategy for Sparse Labeling and Manipulation of Mammalian Neurons”

Contact Information

Email: xwyang@mednet.ucla.edu Phone: 310-267-2761 Address: 695 Charles Young Drive, #3309 Los Angeles, CA 90095 695 Charles Young Drive, Gonda 3506B Los Angeles, CA 90095

Biography

Dr. X. William Yang is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He is also a member of the Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics at Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behaviors, and a member of the Brain Research Institute at UCLA. He has served as a regular member at the NIH’s Cell Death in Neurodegeneration (CDIN) Study Section, a Scientific Advisory Board member of the Hereditary Disease Foundation, and a faculty member for Faculty 1000 Medicine?s Neurogenetics ...

 

Professor of Child Neurology and Mental Retardation, Harvard Medical School Unit Chief, Pediatric Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital Director, Pediatric Epilepsy Research Lab

Staley focuses on neuronal ion transport and the spread of activity in neural networks. Research interests include epilepsy, synaptic physiology, and neural network activity. Research techniques used: single cell electrophysiology, in vivo radiotelemetry, ion-sensitive fluorescent imaging of ion transport and neural network activity, computer modeling.

 

Web Information

Webpage: massgeneral.org/neurology/researcher_profiles/staley_kevin Neuroscience@Harvard BRAIN Initiative grant

Contact Information

Email: staley.kevin@mgh.harvard.edu Clinic Phone: 617-724-6400 Address: Kevin J. Staley, MD Massachusetts General Hospital 114 16th Street Charlestown, MA 02129

Biography

Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School

Unit Chief, Pediatric Neurology, Mass General Hospital Department of Neurology

Kevin Staley received his MD degree from the University of California, San Diego. He completed his postdoctoral research training at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr Staley studies neuronal ion transport in neonatal seizures and neural network dysfunction in epilepsy. He has served as Chair of the Investigator’s Workshop Committee and the Research and Training Committee of the American Epilepsy Society, as Chair of the Research Council of the Epilepsy Foundation of America, as co-chair of the inaugural Gordon Conference on Mechanisms of Epilepsy and Neuronal Synchronization, and as an Associate Editor for the Journal of ...

 

Professor Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Columbia Neuroscience HHMI Investigator Director, Hobert Lab

Oliver Hobert studies molecular mechanisms that control the generation of the enormous diversity of cell types in the nervous system. Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system, his laboratory decodes genomic cis-regulatory information of gene batteries expressed in specific neuronal cell types and identifies trans-acting factors that act at various stages of neuronal development to impose specific terminal differentiation programs onto individual neuron types.

Web Information

Webpage:   columbia.edu/cu/biology/faculty-data/oliver-hobert/faculty HHMI profile: hhmi.org/research/how-build-nervous-system Brain Initiative Grant

Contact Information

Email: or38@columbia.edu Phone: (212) 305-0065 Address: 701 W. 168th St. HHSC 724 New York, NY 10032

Research

From HHMI page (see webpage above for videos)

How to Build a Nervous System

Oliver Hobert studies molecular mechanisms that control the generation of the enormous diversity of cell types in the nervous system. Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system, his laboratory decodes genomic cis-regulatory information of gene batteries expressed in specific neuronal cell types and identifies trans-acting factors that act at various stages of neuronal development to impose specific terminal differentiation programs onto individual neuron types.

The main focus of my laboratory is to understand the gene regulatory control mechanisms that generate the astounding diversity of cell types in the nervous system. We study this problem by ...

 

Professor at Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory & HHMI Investigator Principal Investigator, Hannon Lab

Greg Hannon explores the processes that cells use to turn genes on and off. My work is focused on understanding a relatively new class of cellular pathways, governed by molecules known as small RNAs, that control gene activation and repression. Our studies of small-RNA biology in early development provide insights into human evolution, diversity, and diseases such as cancer.

 

Web Information

CSHL Website:  cshl.edu/Faculty/Gregory-Hannon.html HHMI webpage: hhmi.org/scientists/gregory-j-hannon Lab:   hannonlab.cshl.edu/index.html

Contact Information

Email: hannon@cshl.edu Phone: (516) 367-8455 Address: One Bungtown Road Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724

Biography

Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University,1992

Research

I explore the processes that cells use to turn genes on and off. My work is focused on understanding a relatively new class of cellular pathways, governed by molecules known as small RNAs, that control gene activation and repression. Our studies of small-RNA biology in early development provide insights into human evolution, diversity, and diseases such as cancer.

Gregory Hannon is a pioneer in the study of RNA interference (RNAi), a process in which double-stranded RNA molecules induce gene silencing. Hannon and colleagues have elucidated key elements of the RNAi machinery. During the past several years, the Hannon lab has focused on the ...

 

Associate Professor and AT&T Chair, MIT Media Lab and McGovern Institute, Departments of Biological Engineering and Brain and Cognitive Sciences Co-Director, MIT Center for Neurobiological Engineering Principal Investigator, Synthetic Biology Group

Ed Boyden develops new strategies for analyzing and engineering brain circuits to develop broadly applicable methodologies that reveal fundamental mechanisms of complex brain processes. A major goal of his current work is the development of technologies for controlling nerve cells using light.

 

Web Information

Personal Website: edboyden.org/

McGovern Institute for Brain Research page: mcgovern.mit.edu/principal-investigators/ed-boyden

Lab Page: syntheticneurobiology.org/

Twitter: twitter.com/eboyden3

Wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Boyden

Contact Information

E-mail: esb@media.mit.edu

Phone: (617) 324-3085

Address:  Room E15-421 |20 Ames St. | Cambridge, MA 02139

Biography

From Lab Page

Ed Boyden is Associate Professor of Biological Engineering and Brain and Cognitive Sciences, at the MIT Media Lab and the MIT McGovern Institute. He leads the Synthetic Neurobiology Group, which develops tools for analyzing and engineering the circuits of the brain. These technologies, created often in interdisciplinary collaborations, include ‘optogenetic’ tools, which enable the activation and silencing of neural circuit elements with light, 3-D microfabricated neural interfaces that enable control and readout of neural activity, and robotic methods for automatically recording intracellular neural activity and performing single-cell analyses in the living brain. He has launched an ...

 

Research Scientist Head of MIT Genetic Neuroengineering Group

Research interests: viral vector engineering, synthetic biology. Engineering genetic tools for neuroscience.

Web Information

LinkedIn Webpage:  linkedin.com/in/ianwickersham MIT Neuroscience Brain Initiative Grant

Contact Information

Email: wickersham@mit.edu

Biography

Ian obtained a PhD from UCSD, where he developed new retrograde viral technologies for cell-targetable transsynaptic circuit tracing. After a postdoctoral fellowship in MIT Brain and Cognitive Science, he joined the Synthetic Neurobiology group as a research scientist to develop new integrative cell and circuit analysis methods. He then went on to launch the MIT Genetic Neuroengineering Group.

Research

Ian is eveloping new integrative cell and circuit analysis methods

Publications

2015

A circuit mechanism for differentiating positive and negative associations.

Namburi, P., A. Beyeler, S. Yorozu, G.G. Calhoon, S.A. Halbert, R. Wichmann, S.S. Holden, K.L. Mertens, M. Anahtar, A.C. Felix-Ortiz, I.R. Wickersham, J.M. Gray & K.M. Tye, Nature 520(7549):675-8 (2015).

Lentiviral vectors for retrograde delivery of recombinases and transactivators

Wickersham, I.R., H.A. Sullivan, G.M. Pao, H. Hamanaka, K.A. Goosens, I.M. Verma & H.S. Seung, Cold Spring Harbor Protocols 2015 Apr 1;2015(4):368-74.

Rabies viral vectors for monosynaptic tracing and targeted transgene expression in neurons

Wickersham, I.R. & H.A. Sullivan, Cold Spring Harbor Protocols 2015 Apr 1;2015(4):375-85.

Concentration and purification of rabies viral and ...

OnAir Post: Ian Wickersham, PhD – MIT