Research Area

Neurobiology Research

      The F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center 

                            

The Kirby Center at a glance

The Program in Neurobiology at Boston Children's Hospital, including the F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, is the largest basic neuroscience research enterprise at a U.S. hospital. It incorporates basic and translational neuroscience research, focusing primarily on developmental neurobiology.

Led by Clifford Woolf, MB, BCh, PhD, the Kirby Center occupies three floors of the Center for Life Science building. Its members aim to understand--at the genetic, molecular, cellular and systems level--how the circuitry of the nervous system is established and functions, and how disturbances caused by genetic mutations, environmental inputs and injury can produce intellectual and other neuro-developmental disorders. We believe success is contingent on the highest quality multidisciplinary basic research, with close interaction between basic scientists and clinicians.

Researcher Focus Area
Larry Benowitz, PhD Brain rewiring after injury
Chinfei Chen, MD, PhD Synaptic plasticity
Gabriel Corfas, PhD Neuron-glia interactions and their roles in development and disease
Michael Do, PhD Regulation of physiology and behavior by light
Elizabeth Engle, MD Congenital eye movement disorders
Michela Fagiolini, PhD Experience-dependent visual plasticity; neurodevelopmental disorders, including Rett syndrome
Gwenaelle Geleoc, PhD Functional development of sensory hair cells in the inner ear
Zhigang He, PhD, BM Axon regeneration
Xi He, PhD Cell-cell communication; early nervous system development; Wnt family of secreted morphogens and signaling; cancer; skeletal and neurologic diseases
Takao Hensch, PhD Critical periods in brain development
Jeffrey Holt, PhD Molecular basis of sensory signals in hearing and deafness
Gabriel Kreiman, PhD, MSc Computations in the brain and the functional architecture of neuronal circuits
Scott Pomeroy, MD, PhD Molecular and cellular biology of brain tumors
Paul Rosenberg, MD, PhD Physiology and pathology of glutamate transporters in the central nervous system; molecular mechanisms of brain injury; mechanisms of homeostatic sleep regulation
Mustafa Sahin, MD, PhD Axon development and neurologic disease
Thomas Schwarz, PhD Neurotransmitter secretion, membrane trafficking, synapse development, axonal transport; Parkinson's disease
Judith A. J. Steen, PhD Neurodegenerative diseases; Proteomics and bioinformatics
Beth Stevens, PhD Neuron-glia signaling, synapse development, and plasticity
Joseph Volpe, MD Brain injury in premature infants
Clifford Woolf MB, BCh, PhD Pain, Formation of neural circuits, Regeneration
Beth Stevens receives award from President Obama

Beth Stevens received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Obama on July 31st.

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Research updates

Not all brain tumors are made the same, and that's important                             Research in Scott Pomeroy's lab reveals that by sequencing 92 tumors from patients with medulloblastoma, they could pin down the precise mutations driving the 4 subtypes of the malignant brain tumor. 

Immune cells "sculpt" circuits in the brain by eating away excess connections                                   A study led by Beth Stevens is the first to capture microglia, previously thought of as immune cells, in the act of eliminating synapses in the healthy, developing brain.

Gene-therapy trial will attempt to restore hearing in deaf mice                                                                Jeff Holt leads a team paving the way for a test of gene therapy to reverse a type of genetic deafness.

Mitochondria running amok: Can we stop them from moving to treat Parkinson’s disease?   Tom Schwarz and colleagues show how the gene mutations in hereditary Parkinson’s cause their damage.

Questioning "wait and see" in motor nerve injuries                                                                         Research in Clifford Woolf's lab provides a biological explanation for permanent loss of muscle function and strength in motor nerve injuries.