About Us

We are exploring new ways to understand the brain and diseases that affect it.  Early studies of cerebral cortical development led us to two, new scientific areas that are being actively pursued through both basic science and clinically relevant studies focused on therapeutically tractable mechanisms.

Lysophospholipid (LP) receptor signaling

We are studying basic receptor mechanisms and physiological actions of a growing family of cell surface LP receptors using a broad range of experimental approaches.  As importantly, the contributions of LP signaling to the study of brain diseases is being pursued, particularly for hydrocephalus that involves lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptors, and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) that involves sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptors.   

Genomic Mosaicism (GM) in the brain

A surprising feature of the brain is that single cells from the same person can have distinct genomes, resulting in a genomic mosaic.  GM was first identified as mosaic aneuploidies, representing both a major form of GM, and a harbinger for other forms of genomic variation observed as part of DNA content variation (DCV) that includes somatically derived copy number variants (CNVs).  Efforts to understand the forms, organization, and functional consequences of GM – including its impact on brain development, alterations by the environment, and its involvement in Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders – are currently being pursued at cellular and single-cell genomic and transcriptomic levels.