The Silver lab broadly aims to understand genetic and cellular mechanisms controlling cortical development and contributing to neurodevelopmental pathologies and brain evolution. Our premise is that the same mechanisms at play during normal development were co-opted during evolution and when dysregulated, can cause neurodevelopmental disease. We employ a multifaceted strategy using mouse genetics, organoids, live imaging, and genomics to bridge these fields. 1) We study how RNA binding proteins and RNA metabolism contribute to brain development and disease. 2) We investigate how local gene expression (RNA localization and local translation) influences neural progenitor function and cortical architecture. 3) We are interested in how genetic modifications over the course of evolution influence progenitor behavior and human cortical development. This talk will highlight these research directions, with an emphasis on how post-transcriptional regulation has helped us to understand new intricacies controlling progenitors and corticogenesis.

Those wishing to meet the speaker should contact Nefeli Slavi.

The Columbia Neuroscience Seminar series is a collaborative effort of Columbia's Zuckerman Institute, the Department of Neuroscience, the Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior and the Columbia Translational Neuroscience Initiative, and with support from the Kavli Institute for Brain Science.