Neurobiology

John Assad, Ph.D.

Professor of Neurobiology

The goal of my lab’s research is to understand how the primate brain controls behavior by integrating external sensory information with internal states, such as attention or motivation...[ full text ]

Bruce P. Bean, Ph.D

Professor of Neurobiology

Our research is directed at understanding electrical signaling in the brain. Information in the brain is encoded as patterns of "action potentials", brief (~ 1 millsecond) reversals of the voltage across the membrane of neurons...[ full text ]

Richard T. Born, M.D.

Professor of Neurobiology

Director of the Program in Neuroscience

My lab is interested in the neural circuitry of the primate visual cortex and how it relates to perception and visually guided behavior. Our current focus is on areas of the brain that make calculations about out visual motion...[ full text ]

David Cardozo, Ph.D.

Associate Dean of Graduate Studies
Assistant Professor of Neurobiology

Most of my efforts have been directed towards medical student education. This includes developing and teaching the Human Nervous System and Behavior course for second year medical and dental students....[ full text ]

David E. Clapham, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Neurobiology and Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Aldo R. Castaneda Professor of Cardiovascular Research, Children's Hospital Boston
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

For more about Dr. Clapham, please visit:
http://clapham.tch.harvard.edu/
http://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/clapham_bio.html

Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D.

Professor of Neurobiology

Our research focuses on the fundamental mechanisms involved in information transfer between nerve cells or between nerve and muscle. ...[ full text ]

David P. Corey, Ph.D.

Professor of Neurobiology

Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

We are interested in the gating of mechanically sensitive ion channels, which open in response to force on the channel proteins....[ full text ]

Sandeep Robert Datta, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Neurobiology

The goal of our research is to address a core problem in neurobiology — how is the brain wired to extract information from the environment and convert that information into action? Our laboratory seeks to answer this question by studying the mammalian olfactory system... [ full text ]

Ruth Anne Eatock, Ph.D.

Professor in Otology and Laryngology, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary
Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School

The receptor cells of the inner ear transduce sound and head motions into electrical signals, which they transmit across synapses to afferent neurons, which in turn carry the electrical signals from the inner ear to the brain. We study all three stages...[ full text ]

Edwin J. Furshpan, Ph.D.

Research Professor of Neurobiology

I am currently in a state of "semiretirement". I have closed my laboratory, but continue to work full time in teaching and outreach activities....[ full text ]

Lisa V. Goodrich, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Neurobiology

We are interested in the development of neural circuits, from the determination and differentiation of neurons to the formation of axonal connections and ultimately the generation of behavior...[ full text ]

Michael E. Greenberg, Ph.D.

Department Chair
Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor of Neurobiology

Research in the Greenberg lab has focused on identifying the mechanisms by which extracellular stimuli trigger cellular responses that are critical for proliferation, differentiation and survival of cells in the developing nervous system, and for the adaptive responses of neurons in the mature nervous system....[ full text ]

Chenghua Gu, D.V.M., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Neurobiology

Nervous and vascular systems share many features, despite their distinct functions. Developmentally, they are formed around the same time, and both continue to dynamically remodel throughout life....[ full text ]

Chris Harvey, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Neurobiology

The goal of our research is to understand how decision-making and working memory behaviors are implemented by neuronal circuits in the mammalian cortex. ....[ full text ]

David H. Hubel, M.D.

John Enders University Professor of Neurobiology, Emeritus

We are interested in learning how the activation of brain cells is related to an animal's environment and be-havior. ...[ full text ]

Pascal S. Kaeser, M.D.

Assistant Professor of Neurobiology

Our goal is to understand molecular mechanisms that underlie functions and plasticity of release sites for neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. ...[ full text ]

Morris J. Karnovsky, M.B.B.CH., D.Sc.

Shattuck Professor of Pathological Anatomy, Emeritus

The two threads running through all of Morris' research - the study of structural components of cells and their function, and analysis of how disease states change structure and function - were laid in place early...[ full text ]

Joshua M. Kaplan, Ph.D

Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School
Molecular Biology Department, Massachusetts General Hospital

We utilize behavioral, genetic, biochemical, imaging, and electrophysiological techniques to study signaling in the brain of the worm C. elegans. Current work is focused on three areas: regulation of synaptic vesicle exo- and endocytosis, synaptic remodeling and plasticity, and metabolic control of synaptic transmission.[ full text ]

Edward A. Kravitz, Ph.D.

George Packer Berry Professor of Neurobiology

GENETIC MANIPULATIONS IN THE FRUIT FLY FIGHT CLUG: Aggression is a nearly universal feature of the behavior of social animals. ...[ full text ]

Margaret S. Livingstone, Ph.D.

Professor of Neurobiology

We are interested in how cells in the visual system process information and in the functional organization of the visual system.  We use complementary techniques going from psychophysics, functional MRI, to single unit recording. [ full text ]

Qiufu Ma, Ph.D.

Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School

Research Associate in Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

We are interested in investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of pain sensory circuitry...[ full text ]

Joseph B. Martin, M.D., Ph.D.

Edward R. and Anne G. Lefler Professor of Neurobiology

Joseph Boyd Martin, M.D., Ph.D., Edwin R. and Anne G. Lefler Professor of Neurobiology, served as Dean of the Harvard Faculty of Medicine from 1997 to 2007. [ full text ]

Richard H. Masland, Ph.D.

Charles Anthony Pappas Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Surgery, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary

Research in this laboratory concerns local cellular interactions within the retina. Mammalian retinas contain a surprising diversity of cell types...[full text]

John H.R. Maunsell, Ph.D.

Alice and Rodman W. Moorhead III Professor of Neurobiology

Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Our research is aimed at understanding how neuronal signals in visual cerebral cortex generate perceptions and guide behavior...[ full text ]

David L. Paul, Ph.D.

Professor of Neurobiology

We study the molecular structure and function of gap junctions, collec- tions of intercellular channels that allow the direct movement of small molecules between cells...[ full text ]

David D. Potter, Ph.D.

Research Professor of Neurobiology

The culture of dis- sociated neurons offers advantages in studying these functions, including enhanced control of the cellular and fluid environment of the neurons, good visibility, and easy access for electrical recording...[ full text ]

Elio Raviola, M.D., Ph.D.

Bullard Professor of Neurobiology

The objective of our research is to understand how the retina of mammals analyzes the visual world and encodes its spatial, temporal and chromatic contrast into a message of action potentials for safe sending to the brain...[full text]

Wade Regehr, Ph.D.

Professor of Neurobiology

My long-term goal is to determine how presynaptic neurons influence the firing of their targets and to understand how physiologically significant computations are performed by synapses...[full text]

R. Clay Reid, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Neurobiology

We study the general question of how visual information is transformed between the lateral geniculate nu-cleus of the thalamus (LGN) and layer 4 of the primary visual cortex...[full text]

Bernardo Sabatini, M.D, Ph.D.

Professor of Neurobiology

The modification of synaptic connections between neurons is thought to underlie our ability to form memories and acquire new behaviors...[full text]

Thomas L. Schwarz, Ph.D.

Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology, Children's Hospital Boston

The Schwarz lab has two primary interests: the mechanism of secretion of neurotransmitter at the synapse, and the function of K+ channels in their cellular milieu...[full text]

Rosalind Segal, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School
Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Our lab is interested in mechanisms whereby extracellular stimuli regulate proliferation and survival in the developing nervous system...[full text]

Charles D. Stiles, Ph.D.

Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School
Co-Director, CNS Cancer Program Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center

The Stiles laboratory works on the molecular mechanisms of fate choice in neural progenitor cells. To a very large extent, these fate choice decisions are dictated by transcription factors in the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) family. We are currently focused on a pair of CNS-specific bHLH transcription factors known as Olig1 and Olig2.[full text]

Charles J. Weitz, M.D., Ph.D.

Robert Henry Pfeiffer Professor of Neurobiology

We study the molecular biology and genetics of circadian clocks, endogenous oscillators that drive daily rhythms in behavior and physiology...[full text]

Rachel I. Wilson , Ph.D.

Professor of Neurobiology

Associate Director of the Program in Neuroscience

The goal of our research is to understand how sensory information is processed by neural circuits, and to describe the mechanisms that underlie sensory processing...[full text]

Clifford Woolf, M.D., Ph.D.

Director of the F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Children's Hospital Boston

The current focus of the group is on the molecular mechanisms of pain and regeneration...[full text]

Gary Yellen, Ph.D.

Professor of Neurobiology

Motivated by the successful dietary treatment of epilepsy, we study neuronal metabolism and excitability using fluorescent biosensors, imaging, and electrophysiology.  We also study the “moving parts” of voltage-gated ion channels.