High tech research labs are addressing some of the most important problems in neurobiology. Excellent research libraries and facilities make this program one of the best in the world.

Research faculty investigate a broad range of neuroscientific areas. Top priority projects include studies of neural developmental regulatory genes in humans, mice, Drosophila, and C. elegans, mechanisms of action of neurotrophins, synaptic plasticity, neural regeneration, stem cells and a wide variety of basic brain cell functions.

The Graduate Program in Neuroscience is also a participating member of Rutgers Igert program: http://www.igert.rutgers.edu, an NSF-Funded program including training of graduate students in integrative synthesis and analysis of biological interfaces.

The Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey, a State funded partnership between UDMNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University, is one of the world leaders on this research frontier. Read more.

Browse highlights from the history of the Program.

Selected Recent Publications:

Benayed**, R. Gharani, N., Rossman, I., Mancuso, V., Lazar, G., Kamdar**, S., Bruse, S.E., Tischfield, S., Smith, B.J., Zimmerman, R.A., DiCicco-Bloom*, E., Brzustowicz, L.M. and Millonig*, J.H. (2005) Support for the homeobox transcription factor gene ENGRAILED2 as an autism spectrum disorder susceptibility locus. Am.J. Hum. Genet. 77: 851-868.

Cowen*, D.S., Johnson-Farley N.N., and Travkina T. (2005) 5-HT1A receptors couple to activation of Akt, but not extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK), in cultured hippocampal neurons. J. Neurochem. 93: 910-917.

Crockett*, D.P., Burshteyn, M., Garcia, C., Muggironi, M. and Casaccia-Bonnefil*, P. (2005) Number of oligodendrocyte progenitors recruited to the lesioned spinal cord is modulated by levels of the cell cycle regulatory protein p27Kip-1. Glia 49: 301-308.

Di-Cicco-Bloom*, E. (2006) Neuron, know thy neighbor. (Perspective) Science 311: 1560-1562.

Di-Cicco-Bloom*, E., Lord, C., Zwaigenbaum, L., Courchesne, E., Dager, S.R., Schmitz, C., Schultz, R.T., Crawley, J. and Young, L.J. (2006) The developmental neurobiology of autism spectrum disorder. (Mini-Review) J. Neurosci. 26: 6897-6906.

Donahue, C., Kosik, K. and Shors*, T.J. (2006) Growth hormone is produced in the hippocampus, where it is sensitive to age, sex differences and stressful experience. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 103: 6031-6036.

Du, Y. Fischer, T.Z., Clinton-Luke, P., Lercher, L.D. and Dreyfus*, C.F. (2006) Distinct effects of p75 in mediating actions of neurotrophins on basal forebrain oligodendrocytes. Mol. Cell Neurosci. 32: 366-375.

Gil-Perotin, S., Marin-Husstege, M., Li, J., Soriano-Navarro, M., Zindy, F., Roussel, M.F., Garcia-Verdugo, J.M. and Casaccia-Bonnefil,* P. (2006) Loss of p53 induces changes in the behavior of subventricular zone cells: implication for the genesis of glial tumors. J. Neurosci. 26: 1107-1116.

Goff, L. A., Yang, M., Bowers, J., Getts, R.C., Padgett*, R.W. and Hart*, R.P. (2005) Rational probe optimization and enhanced detection strategy for microRNAs using microarrays. RNA Biology 2:3 93-100.

Ibáñez-Ventoso, C., Yang, M., Guo, S., Robins, H., Padgett*, R.W. and Driscoll*, M. (2006) Modulated microRNA expression during adult lifespan in C. elegans. Aging Cell 5:235-246.

Koticha, D.K., Maurel, P., Zanazzi, G., Kane-Goldsmith, N., Jacob, J., Salzer, J. and Grumet*, M. (2006) Naurofascin interactions play a critical role in clustering sodium channels, ankyrinG and betaIV spectrin at nodes of Ranvier. Dev. Biol. 293: 1-12.

Liu, A., Stadelmann, C., Moscarello, M., Bruck, W., Sobel, A., Mastronardi, F.G. and Casaccia-Bonnefil*, P. (2005) Expression of stathmin, a developmentally controlled cytoskeleton-regulating molecule, in demyelinating disorders. J. Neurosci. 25: 737-747.

Marin-Husstege, M., He, Yl, Li, J., Kondo, T., Sablitzky, F. and Casaccia-Bonnefil*, P. (2006) Multiple roles of Id4 in developmental myelination: predicted outcomes and unexpected findings. Glia 54: 285-296.

Nowakowski*, R.S. (2006) Stable neuron numbers from cradle to grave. (Commentary) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 103: 12219-12220.

Quinn, C.C., Pfeil, D.S., Chen, E., Stovall, E.L., Harden, M.V., Gavin, M.K., Forrester, W.C., Ryder, E.F., Soto, M.C. and Wadsorth*, W.G. (2006) UNC-6/Netrin and SLT-1/Slit guidance cues orient axon outgrowth mediated by MIG-10/RIAM/Lamellipodin. Curr. Biol. 16: 1-9.

Robins, H., Li, Y. and Padgett*, R.W. (2005) Predicting microRNA Targets with High Precision. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102:4006-4009.

Sarkar, P.K., Durga, N.D., Morris, J.J. and Martin*, J.V. (2006) In vitro thyroid hormone rapidly modulates protein phosphorylation in cerebrocortical synaptosomes from adult rat brain. Neurosci. 137: 125-132.

Schaefer, H. and Rongo*, C. (2006) KEL-8 is a substrate receptor for CUL3-dependent ubiquitin ligase that regulates synaptic glutamate receptor turnover. Mol. Biol. Cell 17: 1250-1260.

Shen, S., Li, J. and Casaccia-Bonnefil,* P. (2005) Histone modifications affect timing of oligodendrocyte progenitor differentiation in the developing rat brain. J. Cell Biol. 169: 577-589.

Shors*, T.J. (2006) Significant life events and the shape of memories to come: a hypothesis. (Mini-Review) Neurobiol. Learn. Mem. 85: 103-115.

Tarui, T., Takahashi, T., Nowakowski*, R.S., Hayes*, N.L., Bhide, P.G. and Caviness, V.S. (2005) Overexpression of p27Kip1, Probability of cell cycle exit, and laminar destination of neocortical neurons. Cer. Cortex 15: 1343-1355.

Wen**, Z. and Zheng*, J. Q. (2006) Directional guidance of nerve growth cones.Current Opinion in Neurobiol. 16: 52-58.

Williams, S.D., Babiarz, J., Grumet*, M., Colman, D.R., Henkemeyer, M., Mason, C.A. and Sakurai, T.A. (2006) Role for Nr-CAM in the patterning of binocular visual pathways. Neuron 50: 535-547.

Yazdani, U. German, D.C., Liang, C.-L., Manzino, L. Sonsalla*, P. and Zeevalk*, G.D. (2006) rat model of Parkinson's disease: chronic central delivery of 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) Exp. Neurol. 200: 172-183.

Yu, B., Yang, Z., Li, J., Minakhina, S., Wang, M. Padgett*, R.W., Steward, R. and Chen, X. (2005) Methlyation as Crucial Step in Plant microRNA Biogenesis. Science 307:932-935.

** Current graduate student
* Faculty member