Neuroscience Research Groups

HSCI Faculty ‘extraordinary’ innovation recognized by the NIH HSCI Principal Faculty members Jeffrey Macklis, Alex Schier and Brian Wainger were recently recognized ‘for exceptional creativity’ by the NIH’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. Jeff...

Co-lead of HSCI's Nervous System Diseases Program Paola Arlotta and postdoctoral fellow Giorgia Quadrato have produced long-cultured brain organoids that have the potential to advance our understanding of brain development and disorders. Photo courtesy of...

SMN protein (red) is necessary for the survival of spinal cord neurons (motor neurons) responsible for breathing and all movement. Harvard researchers have found a compound that stabilized this protein in mouse and human motor neurons. This may lead to...

Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers at the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have shed new light on the underlying mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurological disorder that could leave the...

Zika virus (light blue) spreads through a three-dimensional model of a developing brain. Image courtesy of Max Salick and Nathaniel Kirkpatrick/Novartis The fast-spreading virus can take multiple routes into developing human nerve cells. By Hannah Robbins...

Tongue-on-a-chip provides insight into genetic diseases By Leah Burrows, SEAS Science and Technology Communications Officer Muscular dystrophy is a group of rare genetic diseases that cause progressive muscle weakness and deterioration. For decades...

Young neurons (pink), responsible for encoding new memories, must compete with mature neurons (green) to survive and integrate into the hippocampal circuit. Photo courtesy of Kathleen McAvoy, Sahay Lab. HSCI researchers identify new mechanisms by which...

In the spleen, lymphoid tissue (purple) is responsible for launching an immune response to blood-born antigens, while red pulp (pink) filters the blood. Mutations in the C9ORF72 gene, the most common mutation found in ALS patients, can inflame lymphoid...

Young-Pearse and colleagues studied human astrocytes (red) and neurons (green) derived from iPS cells. Photo courtesy of Sarah Sullivan. Study of plaque production holds promise for improved treatments By B.D. Colen, HSCI Director of Communications...

Callosal projection neurons (green) in the cerebral cortex. Photo courtesy of Jessica MacDonald and Jeffrey Macklis. Researchers identify important signaling pathway, potential new route to therapy by Hannah L. Robbins Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI)...