The research group of Brain Development and Disease focuses on the mechanisms involved in neurodevelopment, evolution of the brain and the origins of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
We use transcriptomic methods including single cell RNA sequencing and patch-seq to understand the cellular diversity of the brain region where AD first strikes in both healthy and diseased animals. We have developed a relevant excitatory neuron from human iPSCs using a forward programming protocol for studying early mechanisms of AD. We are tracing the evolutionary conservation of cell types within the entorhinal cortex using single nuclei RNA sequencing and MRI. Uncovering the cellular diversity of the brain provides extraordinary insight into the complexity of this organ and provides us new evidence for the function and origins of brain diseases. In addition, we are also developing protocols to produce clean meat in-vitro from bovine embryonic stem cells.
