Neural Circuit and Cognitive Development

Dr. Rubenstein is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. He also serves as a Nina Ireland Distinguished Professor in Child Psychiatry at the Nina Ireland Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology. His research focuses on the regulatory genes that orchestrate development of the forebrain. Dr. Rubenstein's lab has demonstrated the role of specific genes in regulating neuronal specification, differentiation, migration and axon growth during embryonic development and on through adult life. His work may help to explain some of the mechanisms underlying human neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. Dr. Rakic is currently at the Yale School of Medicine, Department of Neuroscience, where his main research interest is in the development and evolution of the human brain. After obtaining his MD from the University of Belgrade School of Medicine, his research career began in 1962 with a Fulbright Fellowship at Harvard University after which he obtained his graduate degrees in Developmental Biology and Genetics. He held a faculty position at Harvard Medical School for 8 years prior to moving to Yale University, where he founded and served as Chair of the Department of Neurobiology for 37 years, and also founder and director of the Kavli Institute for Neuroscience. In 2015, he returned to work full-time on his research projects, funded by US Public Health Services and various private foundations.

He is well known for his studies of the development and evolution of the brain, in particular his discovery of basic cellular and molecular mechanisms of proliferation and migration of neurons in the cerebral cortex. He was president of the Society for Neuroscience and popularized this field with numerous lectures given in over 35 counties. In 2008, Rakic shared the inaugural Kavli Prize in Neuroscience with Thomas Jessell and Stan Grillner. He is currently the Dorys McConell Duberg Professor of Neuroscience and serves on Advisory Boards and Scientific Councils of a number of Institutions and Research Foundations. Dr. Chen is Professor of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Research in her laboratory focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie the generation of diverse cell types in the brain, and the assembly of these cell types into functional neural circuits. Dr. Chen completed her graduate study with Dr. Sidney Strickland at Stony Brook University-SUNY, and her post-doctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Susan McConnell at Stanford University. She has 22 years of experience in genetics and developmental neurobiology research. Her laboratory has been funded by the March of Dimes Foundation, California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, and National Institute of Health. Dr. Kwan is Assistant Professor of Human Genetics and Research Assistant Professor in the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute at the University of Michigan Medical School. Research in his laboratory is aimed at the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie normal neural circuit assembly in the cerebral cortex and their dysregulation in human neurodevelopmental disorders, in particular autism spectrum disorder, fragile X syndrome, and schizophrenia. Dr. Kwan completed his graduate and post-doctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Nenad Sestan at Yale School of Medicine. He has 14 years of experience in developmental neurobiology research and his worked has been recognized by awards from the Brain Research Foundation, March of Dimes Foundation, Simons Foundation, and Cajal Club.