Associate Professor of Chemistry Columbia University The Owen Group is an inorganic chemistry group that specializes in the synthesis and surface modification of semiconductor nanocrystals. We are developing methods to exchange nanocrystal surface ligands and characterize the influence of surface structure on electronic properties. Small molecule model systems that can be characterized with X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy are helping […]
Franck Polleux
Professor of Neuroscience Columbia University Dr. Polleux’s laboratory focuses on the identification of the molecular mechanisms underlying neuronal development in the mammalian brain that will help reveal how perturbations of brain pathways lead to the underlying pathology of such diseases as schizophrenia and autism. Dr. Polleux has recently begun studying the genetic basis of human brain evolution (Charrier, Joshi et […]
Dali Sames
Associate Professor of Chemistry Columbia University In the Sames Group, we use organic synthesis and molecular design to address exciting problems in neuroscience and brain medicine. The main theme in our research group is to develop new methods for both the imaging and repair of synapses in the brain. We use the entire spectrum of molecular space (small organic molecules, […]
Elizabeth Hillman
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering Columbia University Dr. Hillman’s research focuses on capturing functional information about living tissues using optical techniques. A major theme of her laboratory is in-vivo neuroimaging, and, in particular the examination of the relationship between blood flow changes in the brain and underlying neuronal activity. This work has led to the development of a range of […]
Barclay Morrison
Professor of Biomedical Engineering Columbia University In the Neurotrauma and Repair Laboratory, Dr. Morrison is studying (1) the biomechanics of traumatic brain injury (Kang and Morrison III 2014, Kang and Morrison III 2015) and (2) why brain cells die after a traumatic brain injury (Kang and Morrison III 2014, Kang and Morrison III 2015) and testing novel therapeutics to prevent […]
Randy Bruno
Associate Professor of Neuroscience Columbia University Randy Bruno asks the question How do real neural networks–composed of numerous different types of neurons, interconnected by complex arrangements of synapses–process information? We have been pursuing this question in the rodent whisker-barrel system, where anatomically and functionally distinct networks (barrels and barrel columns) are clearly identifiable and the sensory transducers that provide input […]
Research Area IV: Computational Methods for Neuroscience
[rev_slider alias=”research-4″] From BRAIN 2025: A Scientific Vision Concurrent with the emergence of integrated optical approaches, it is essential to develop computational approaches for the analysis and management of the enormous data sets the optical techniques will yield (see also section 5). Calcium imaging studies in mice produce ~1 Gbits/sec of data; anatomical datasets will readily grow to the ~10 […]
Research Area III: Electrical Methods and Nanotechnology
[rev_slider alias=”research-3″] From BRAIN 2025: A Scientific Vision Optical engineering and photonics are rapidly progressing fields; ongoing advances in optical hardware and computational optics are likely to be highly pertinent to the BRAIN Initiative. Recent progress in miniaturized optics and CMOS image sensor chips for mobile phones has already yielded new capabilities for fluorescence imaging of neural activity in freely […]
Research Area II: Molecular and Chemical Probes for Neuroscience
[rev_slider alias=”research-2″] From BRAIN 2025: A Scientific Vision Report Chemistry and Molecular Technology: Optical Sensors of Neuronal Activity The ability to monitor activity in large numbers of neurons has been accelerated over the past two decades by using optical methods and tools from chemistry and genetics. Optical sensors, whether chemical or genetic, have the potential to report sub‐cellular dynamics in […]
Research Area I: Optical Methods for Neuroscience
[rev_slider alias=”research-1″] From BRAIN 2025: A Scientific Vision Integrated Optical Approaches: Neuroscience and Instrumentation Optical methods capture the central vision of the BRAIN Initiative, that of integrating many approaches into a single experiment. Optical methods can be multiplexed to combine activity monitoring, manipulation, circuit reconstruction, and characterization of a single cell’s morphology and molecular constituents (or at least a subset […]