What instructs the assembly of circuit formation during early development?  How do genetics inform on circuit development, and can we link genetic mutations with wiring pathologies?

To get at these questions, I use a molecular systems approach to neurobiology, which includes synthetic biology, in utero electroporation (IUE), proteomics, and in vivo CRISPR genome editing to track and manipulate neural circuits and their molecules directly in the developing rodent brain. With these approaches, I can target specific circuits and molecules in vivo, introduce pathological mutations, affect gene dosage, and investigate protein-protein interactions, while observing the effects on circuit wiring.  My ultimate goal is to understand how genetics leads to circuit formation, how these can be altered in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, and to develop new methods to study the complex interactions of genes and  proteins during the rapidly changing environment of brain development. In addition to traditional immunohistochemistry and coronal brain slices, I also plan to employ brain clearing and lightsheet microscopy to trace circuit miswirings through an intact rodent brain.