Neural circuit mechanisms underlying the development of social behaviors Adolescence is a period of physical and psychological development during which a person develops from a child into an adult. Following the onset of puberty, increased hormonal levels stimulate the...
RNA metabolism dysfunction and RNA-targeting therapy in neurodegeneration The nervous system has extremely complex RNA processing regulation. Dysfunction of RNA metabolism has emerged to play crucial roles in multiple neurological diseases. Mutations and pathologies of several RNA-binding proteins are...
Single cell gene molecular profiling has demonstrated that cell classification requires more than a simple collection of markers. Current approaches do not account for the dynamic nature of cell states and inherent variation in cell types. This is especially...
Understanding the brain using evolution, viruses, and barcode sequencing. Our research aims to understand the structure and function of the brain. To do so, we take a comparative approach and develop molecular, viral, and sequencing technologies to measure neuronal...
The Williams Lab seeks to identify the fundamental mechanisms by which HIV, drugs of abuse, and the antiretroviral therapies used to treat the virus synergize to promote damage to the body. One of the major challenges in HIV eradication...
Redox regulation plays a central role in signal transduction processes operating in the brain. Aberrant redox signaling is a hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and various Ataxias. It...
Research in my laboratory is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of multi-subunit assemblies involved in synaptic communication. We are particularly interested in elucidating the structural thermodynamics that govern subunit assembly, ligand binding, and allosteric control of neurotransmitter receptors....
My laboratory has taken a multidisciplinary approach to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of different types of somatosensations including pain and itch, which are initiated and mediated by primary sensory neurons in dorsal root ganglia (DRG). We identified...
Understanding how the information in the genome is utilized is one of the central questions in modern biology. It has become clear that a critical level of gene regulation occurs through the chemical modification of both the DNA itself...
The goal of my research program is to answer a fundamental biological question: how is the genome properly interpreted to coordinate the diversity of cell types observed during neuronal development? We are focused on the acquisition of specific cellular...