Stephen A. Baccus

PROFESSOR OF NEUROBIOLOGY

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

We study how the neural circuitry of the vertebrate retina encodes visual information and performs computations. To control and measure the retinal circuit, we present visual images while performing simultaneous two-photon imaging and multielectrode recording. We perturb the circuit as it operates using simultaneous intracellular current injection and multielectrode recording, and use the resulting large data sets to construct models of retinal computation.

Contact: baccus@stanford.edu

Thomas Clandinin

SHOOTER FAMILY PROFESSOR

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

The Clandinin lab focuses on understanding how neuronal circuits assemble and function to perform specific computations and guide behavior. Taking advantage of a rich armamentarium of genetic tools available in the fruit fly, combined with imaging, physiology and analytical techniques drawn from systems neuroscience, we examine a variety of visual circuits.

Contact: trc@stanford.edu

Shaul Druckmann

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF NEUROBIOLOGY AND OF PSYCHIATRY AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Our research goal is to understand how dynamics in neuronal circuits relate and constrain the representation of information and computations upon it. We adopt three synergistic strategies: First, we analyze neural circuit population recordings to better understand the relation between neural dynamics and behavior, Second, we theoretically explore the types of dynamics that could be associated with particular network computations. Third, we analyze the structural properties of neural circuits.

Contact: shauld@stanford.edu

Lisa Giocomo

PROFESSOR OF NEUROBIOLOGY

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

My laboratory studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the organization of cortical circuits important for spatial navigation and memory. We are particularly focused on medial entorhinal cortex, where many neurons fire in spatially specific patterns and thus offer a measurable output for molecular manipulations. We combine electrophysiology, genetic approaches and behavioral paradigms to unravel the mechanisms and behavioral relevance of non-sensory cortical organization. Our first line of research is focused on determining the cellular and molecular components crucial to the neural representation of external space by functionally defined cell types in entorhinal cortex (grid, border and head direction cells). We plan to use specific targeting of ion channels, combined with in vivo tetrode recordings, to determine how channel dynamics influence the neural representation of space in the behaving animal. A second, parallel line of research, utilizes a combination of in vivo and in vitro methods to further parse out ionic expression patterns in entorhinal cortices and determine how gradients in ion channels develop. Ultimately, our work aims to understand the ontogenesis and relevance of medial entorhinal cortical topography in spatial memory and navigation.

Contact: giocomo@stanford.edu

Keren Haroush

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF NEUROBIOLOGY

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Our laboratory studies the mechanisms by which highly complex behaviors are mediated at the neuronal level, mainly focusing on the example of dynamic social interactions and the neural circuits that drive them. From dyadic interactions to group dynamics and collective decision making, the lab seeks a mechanistic understanding for the fundamental building blocks of societies, such as cooperation, empathy, fairness and reciprocity.

Contact: kharoush@stanford.edu

Andrew D. Huberman

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF NEUROBIOLOGY AND OF OPHTHALMOLOGY

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

1) We study the mechanisms of neural degeneration and regeneration with the specific goal of developing treatments to prevent and reverse vision loss. (e.g., Laha and Huberman, Science, 2017; Lim et al., Nature Neuroscience, 2016).

2) We study the neural circuits that merge visual perceptions with internal states, to drive adaptive behavioral decisions. We are parsing the neural circuits related to anxiety, and visually-driven autonomic arousal (e.g., Salay et al., Nature, 2018). 

Contact: adh1@stanford.edu

Michael Lin

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF NEUROBIOLOGY, OF BIOENGINEERING AND, BY COURTESY, OF CHEMICAL AND SYSTEMS BIOLOGY

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Our lab applies biochemical and engineering principles to the development of protein-based tools for investigating biology in living animals. Topics of investigation include fluorescent protein-based voltage indicators, synthetic light-controllable proteins, bioluminescent reporters, and applications to studying animal models of disease.

Contact: mzlin@stanford.edu

Tirin Moore

PROFESSOR OF NEUROBIOLOGY

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

We study neural mechanisms of visual-motor integration and the neural basis of cognition (e.g. attention). We study the activity of single neurons in visual and motor structures within the brain, examine how perturbing that activity affects neurons in other brain structures, and also how it affects the perceptual and

Contact: tirin@stanford.edu

William Newsome

HARMAN FAMILY PROVOSTIAL PROFESSOR AND PROFESSOR OF NEUROBIOLOGY AND, BY COURTESY, OF PSYCHOLOGY

Current Research and Scholarly Interests 

Neural processes that mediate visual perception and visually-based decision making. Influence of reward history on decision making. 

Contact: bnewsome@stanford.edu

Jennifer Raymond

PROFESSOR OF NEUROBIOLOGY

Current Research and Scholarly Interests 

We study the neural mechanisms of learning, using a combination of behavioral, neurophysiological, and computational approaches. The model system we use is a form of cerebellum-dependent learning that regulates eye movements.

Contact: jennifer.raymond@stanford.edu

Nirao Shah

PROFESSOR OF PSYCHIATRY AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES (MAJOR LABORATORIES AND CLINICAL TRANSLATIONAL NEUROSCIENCES INCUBATOR) AND OF NEUROBIOLOGY

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

We study how our brains generate social interactions that differ between the sexes. Such gender differences in behavior are regulated by sex hormones, experience, and social cues. Accordingly, we are characterizing how these internal and external factors control gene expression and neuronal physiology in the two sexes to generate behavior. We are also interested in understanding how such sex differences in the healthy brain translate to sex differences in many neuro-psychiatric illnesses. 

Contact: nirao@stanford.edu

Carla Shatz

SAPP FAMILY PROVOSTIAL PROFESSOR, DAVID STARR JORDAN DIRECTOR, STANFORD BIO-X AND PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY AND OF NEUROBIOLOGY

Current Research and Scholarly Interests 

The goal of research in the Shatz Laboratory is to discover how brain circuits are tuned up by experience during critical periods of development both before and after birth by elucidating cellular and molecular mechanisms that transform early fetal and neonatal brain circuits into mature connections. To discover mechanistic underpinnings of circuit tuning, the lab has conducted functional screens for genes regulated by neural activity and studied their function for vision, learning and memory.

Contact: cshatz@stanford.edu

Longzhi Tan

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF NEUROBIOLOGY

Current Research and Scholarly Interests 

The Tan Lab studies the single-cell 3D genome architectural basis of neurodevelopment and aging by developing the next generation of in vivo multi-omic assays and algorithms, and applying them to the human and mouse cerebellum.

Contact: tttt@stanford.edu