Training Program in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Mentors/Co-Mentors

Trainees are required to choose a mentor. Please note that mentors must have demonstrated evidence of success in their independent careers including obtaining an NIH R01 or R01 equivalent, publishing independently, and successfully mentoring trainees. These requirements ensure that trainees have adequate support during their training period. If the proposed mentor is not currently an approved mentor for the training program, the individual will need to provide their NIH biosketch, other support page, and training records. If a prospective mentor does not have extensive training records, a plan will be described to ensure their trainees will have regular access to experienced mentors.

Trainees must identify an individual who can provide additional help as they progress through the program. This additional mentor can either serve as a co-advisor or commit to meet with the trainee on at least an annual basis to discuss progress with research, progress toward achieving long-term career objectives, and plans for the coming year. If, for example, a trainee writes a grant, it is expected that this person would read the proposal and provide feedback. The co-mentor should review the individual development plan completed as part of the annual re-appointment process with the trainee. This co-mentor should come from the list of mentors, but if this is not appropriate, other individuals can serve in this capacity. The trainee must identify this individual.

Meet our Program Mentors

Learn about mentors’ research interests in neurodevelopmental disabilities to see if they align with your research focus.

Amelia Eisch, PhD
Program Director
Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Research Interests: Developmental and adult neurogenesis and dentate gyrus plasticity's contribution to abnormal functioning
[email protected]

Eric Marsh, MD, PhD
Program Director
Professor of Neurology
Research Interests: Interneuron development, epilepsy models, intracranial EEG recordings, electrophysiology
[email protected]

Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Division of Metabolism and Genetics
Research Interests: Neurometabolic disorders, neural network dysregulation, electrophysiology, genetic therapies
[email protected]

Stewart Anderson, MD
Professor of Psychiatry
Research Interests: Molecular and cellular development of the mammalian forebrain
[email protected]

Naiara Akizu, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms by which neurogenetic disorders alter neurogenesis and development, including mutations in AMPD2 and SNX14
[email protected]

Greg Bashaw, PhD
Professor of Neuroscience
Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms of axon guidance in invertebrate and vertebrate nervous systems
[email protected]

(Frederick) Chris Bennett, MD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Research Interests: Origin and development of microglia and the contributions of microglia to NDDs including Globoid cell leukodystrophy and Krabbe Disease
[email protected]

Seema Bhatagnar, PhD
Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
Research Interests: Neural mechanisms related to chronic stress exposure
[email protected]

Akiva Cohen, PhD
Research Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Research Interests: Cellular and circuit mechanisms of traumatic brain injury
[email protected]

Douglas A. Coulter, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics
Research Interests: Cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying epilepsy
[email protected]

Beverly Davidson, PhD
Arthur V. Meigs Chair in Pediatrics
Research Interests: Inherited genetic diseases that cause central nervous system dysfunction
[email protected]

Marni Falk, MD
Professor of Pediatrics
Research Interests: Genetic etiologies to primary mitochondrial disease across the age spectrum, and a wide range of disorders that involve secondary mitochondrial dysfunction
[email protected]

Marc Fuccillo, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Neuroscience
Research Interests: Circuit control of behaviors related to NDDs, including autism, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder
[email protected]

Ethan Goldberg, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Pediatrics
Research Interests: Studying the structure and function of cerebral cortical circuits and circuit dysfunction in epilepsy
[email protected]

Judith B. Grinspan, PhD
Research Professor of Neurology
Research Interests: Oligodendrocyte development and myelination in the CNS
[email protected]

Hakon Hakonarson, MD, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics
Research Interests: Genetic factors that underlie complex medical disorders
[email protected]

Frances Jensen, MD, FACP, FANA, FAAN, FAES
Chair of Neurology
Research Interests: Pathophysiological mechanisms of epilepsy and stroke and secondary effects on synaptic plasticity
[email protected]

Matthew Kayser, MD, PhD
Karl E. Rickles Associate Professor of Psychiatry II
Research Interests: Understanding how sleep contributes to sculpting brain circuits during development and in other times of life
[email protected]

Erica Korb, PhD
Assistant Professor of Genetics
Research Interests: Epigenetic contributions to development, memory, and stress and mechanistic understanding of the effects of histone variants that cause intellectual disability
[email protected]

David R. Lynch, MD, PhD
Professor of Neurology
Research Interests: NMDA receptors and excitotoxicity
[email protected]

Guo-li Ming, MD, PhD
Perelman Professor of Neuroscience
Research Interests: Understanding molecular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopment and how its dysregulation may contribute to developmental neurological disorders
[email protected]

Timothy P. Roberts, PhD
Vice Chair of Research in Radiology, Professor of Radiology
Research Interests: Functional neuroimaging
[email protected]

Robert T. Schultz, PhD
Director of Center for Autism Research
Research Interests: Cognitive neuroscience and autism research
[email protected]

Amita Sehgal, PhD
John Herr Musser Professor
Research Interests: Mechanisms that control the circadian cycle and sleep, and the interactions of the circadian cycle with the pathogenesis of NDD, including epilepsy
[email protected]

Hongjun Song, PhD
Perelman Professor of Neuroscience
Research Interests: Neural stem cell regulation and neurogenesis; epigenetic and epi transcriptomic mechanisms
[email protected]

Yuanquan Song, PhD
Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Research Interests: Mechanisms of axon regeneration
[email protected]

Douglas Wallace, PhD
Michael and Charles Barnett Endowed Chair of Pediatric Mitochondrial Medicine and Metabolic Disease
Research Interests: Mitochondrial inborn errors in metabolism
[email protected]

John H. Wolfe, VMD, PhD
Professor of Pathology and Medical Genetics in Pediatrics
Research Interests: Lysosomal genetic disorders that affect the brain
[email protected]

Zhaolan (Joe) Zhou, PhD
Professor of Genetics
Research Interests: Understanding how epigenetic principles integrate environmental factors with genetic code to govern brain development and function, and how defects in this process may lead to neurological diseases
[email protected]