UNC Lineberger’s Timothy Gerson, MD, PhD and colleagues reported in the journal Development that by blocking a signal called GSK-3, they could control tumor growth in a subtype of medulloblastoma. Their preclinical findings may provide clues to a possible new targeted treatment strategy. “This work could lead to new insights into developmental brain malformations and also to new treatments … Read more

The UNC School of Medicine lab of Ben Philpot, PhD, will build upon research previously funded by the Pitt-Hopkins Research Foundation to develop a therapy to treat children with this neurodevelopmental disorder. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) has funded the lab of Ben Philpot, PhD, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Cell Biology … Read more

The National Institutes of Health announced 93 awards to fund highly innovative, high-impact biomedical research as part of its High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program. Wesley Legant, PhD, assistant professor in the departments of pharmacology and biomedical engineering, and Hyejung Won, PhD, assistant professor of genetics, were selected as NIH Director’s New Innovator Award recipients this week. … Read more

UNC School of Medicine researchers led by Ben Philpot, PhD, and Bin Gu, PhD, found that cannabidiol had anti-seizure effects and behavior benefits in animal models of Angelman syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder. A marijuana plant extract, also known as cannabidiol (CBD), is being commonly used to improve anxiety, sleep problems, pain, and many other neurological … Read more

The National Institutes of Health have awarded two separate grants totaling $6.1 million to Mark Zylka, PhD, director of the UNC Neuroscience Center. One of the grants was co-awarded to Ben Philpot, PhD, associate director of the center at the UNC School of Medicine. One of these projects will test a CRISPR/Cas9-based gene therapy for … Read more

Hiroyuki Kato, PhD, has been awarded a Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship Award in Neuroscience, which provides funding to highly promising early career investigators in neuroscience. The Kato Lab will use this award to study how recurrent circuits in the mammalian cerebral cortex shape the sensory information processing in the brain. Findings in the simple mouse cortex should … Read more

Led by Eva Anton, PhD, scientists have uncovered details of a key cellular mechanism crucial for brain development. This process of brain development is spawned by a gene that, when mutated, had previously been linked to the development of autism. See the full story in the UNC SOM Newsroom here.

This eight-year project will focus on the interactions between genetics and environmental exposures that may contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and attention deficit disorder. Although scientists have made significant progress identifying gene mutations linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, they have not investigated to the same extent the … Read more

The UNC Neuroscience PhD program was established in 1966, making it the second oldest Neuroscience PhD Curriculum in the United States. The Curriculum has been funded continuously for over 27 years from the NIH and recognized by the NIH as a model predoctoral training program. We are pleased to announce the training grant has been … Read more

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Jose Rodríguez-Romaguera as a new faculty member to the UNC Neuroscience Center and the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Rodríguez Romaguera’s lab will investigate the neurobiology of arousal and anxiety, and will open August 2nd, 2019. Additional details about the Rodríguez-Romaguera Lab: Psychiatric disorders such as Anxiety and Autism Spectrum … Read more