Development
One of the strengths of the UC Davis Neuroscience Consortium is the focus on studying brain health throughout the lifespan. To complement the faculty studying aging, UC Davis has a large number of laboratories studying how the nervous system initially develops, how connections are formed and eliminated, how they are modified by experience and how those processes are altered in disease. Research in this area is supported by 77 faculty members from 26 departments and 12 centers. These faculty utilize a wide range of approaches, across all of the levels of analysis and have an impressive number of interdisciplinary collaborations to further their research in this area, as well as several targeted graduate and postdoctoral T32 training programs. Research on this topic is anchored by basic, translational and clinical research at the Center for Neuroscience, the Center for Mind and Brain and the MIND Institute. Our faculty have several large-scale collaborations within this area, including the UC Davis Conte Center, which is funded by NIMH.
Faculty studying development
| Leonard Abbeduto, Ph.D. | Language development, assessment, and intervention in neurodevelopmental disabilities |
| R. Scott Akins, D.O. | Autism Spectrum Disorders, intellectual disability and Trisomy 21 |
| David G. Amaral, Ph.D. | Systems neuroscience and studies of Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| Kathleen Angkustsiri, M.D., M.A.S. | Pediatric child development and behavior |
| Paul Ashwood, Ph.D. | Neuroimmune effects on mental health |
| Karen L. Bales, Ph.D. | Behavioral neuroscience of social bonds |
| Melissa D. Bauman, Ph.D. | Behavioral neuroscience, prenatal risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders |
| William Benko, M.D. | Neurodegenerative conditions, epilepsy and pediatric neurology |
| Robert F. Berman, Ph.D. | Neurodevelopmental disorder; TBI; neurotoxicology |
| Eliza Bliss-Moreau, Ph.D. | Affective neuroscience |
| Laura Borodinsky, Ph.D. | Cellular and molecular mechanisms of extrinsic and intrinsic cues on development and regeneration |
| Lindsay C. Bowman, Ph.D. | Cognitive and environmental factors that influence development of the social brain |
| Nadean Brown, Ph.D. | Molecular mechanisms regulating the formation of the mammalian lens and retina |
| Cameron S. Carter, M.D. | Pathophysiology of serious mental illness and its neurodevelopmental underpinnings |
| Celia H. Chang, M.D. | Inpatient care, epilepsy and genetic conditions |
| David P. Corina, Ph.D. | Cognitive neuroscience of language and cognition |
| Jacqueline Crawley, Ph.D. | Behavioral neuroscience and neurodevelopmental disorders |
| Robert Cudmore | Effects of experience, disease and aging on the structure and function of the brain |
| William DeBello, Ph.D. | Adaptive plasticity and brain wiring |
| Wenbin Deng, Ph.D. | Molecular mechanisms of neuronal and glial cell death, stem cell biology, and regenerative medicine |
| Megan Dennis, Ph.D. | Human genetics and genomics; Zebrafish to test human neural genes |
| Elva Diaz, Ph.D. | Functional genomics of nervous system development, function and disease |
| Mike Ferns, Ph.D. | Cellular and molecular basis of synapse formation in the mammalian nervous system |
| Kyle Fink, Ph.D. | Therapeutic development for genetically-linked neurological disorders |
| Andrew S. Fox, Ph.D. | Neurobiology of emotion, “affective style” and the development of mental illness |
| Simona Ghetti, Ph.D. | Development of memory and metamemory |
| Tom Glaser, M.D., Ph.D. | Genetic basis of mammalian eye development and congenital eye malformations |
| Qizhi Gong, Ph.D. | Molecular mechanisms of neuronal network formation and plasticity in the mouse olfactory system |
| Katharine Graf-Estes, Ph.D. | Mechanisms that support early learning in infants from statistical regularities in language |
| John A. Gray, M.D., Ph.D. | Molecular and cellular mechanisms of synapse development and plasticity |
| Amanda E. Guyer, Ph.D. | Adolescent neurodevelopment in health and depression, anxiety, and substance use |
| Randi Hagerman, M.D. | Pediatric child development and behavior |
| Paul J. Hagerman, M.D., Ph.D. | Molecular underpinnings of the fragile X family of disorders |
| Robin L. Hansen M.D. | Pediatric child development and behavior |
| Paul Hastings, Ph.D. | Development of physiological, social and emotional functioning from early childhood into adulthood |
| Carolynn Patten, Ph.D., P.T., F.A.P.T.A. | Neural basis of human movement; investigating human motor control and learning from a perspective of neuromechanics |
| Irva Hertz-Picciotto, Ph.D. | Environmental—Toxic chemicals, climate change, health disparities and neurodevelopment |
| David Hessl, Ph.D. | Child clinical psychology; neuropsychology |
| Henry Ho, Ph.D. | Morphogenetic signaling in development and disease |
| Li-En Jao, Ph.D. | The roles of centrosomes and cilia in development and disease |
| Paul Knoepfler, Ph.D. | Epigenetics in stem cells and cancer |
| Leah Krubitzer, Ph.D. | Cortical evolution and development |
| Anna La Torre, Ph.D. | Cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying neuronal progenitor competence and differentiation |
| Kristin Lagattuta, Ph.D. | Age-related changes and individual differences in emotion understanding, theory of mind, moral cognition, and past-to-future reasoning |
| Janine LaSalle, Ph.D. | Epigenetics in human autism-spectrum disorders |
| Pamela J. Lein, Ph.D. | Impacts of environmental stressors on the developing and aging brain |
| Verónica Martínez Cerdeño, Ph.D. | Anatomy and pathology of autism and related conditions |
| A. Kimberley McAllister, Ph.D. | Synapse formation and plasticity; neuroimmune contributions to development and disease |
| Yuko Munakata, Ph.D. | Cognitive control over thoughts and actions, influences, consequences and mechanisms |
| Peter Mundy, Ph.D. | Education and development of children with Autism |
| Karl D. Murray, Ph.D. | Brain development |
| Tara Niendam, Ph.D. | Pediatric and transition-age youth mental health |
| Stephen C. Noctor, Ph.D. | Development of cortical structures in the central nervous system |
| Alex Nord, Ph.D. | Genomics in the brain development, function and disorders |
| Christine Wu Nordahl, Ph.D. | Neuroimaging to study brain development in autism across the life span. |
| Lisa Oakes, Ph.D. | Origins and early development of mental abilities in infancy |
| Beth Ober, Ph.D. | Biological, cognitive, health and mental health life phases: Adulthood, aging |
| David E. Olson, Ph.D. | Compound-induced neural plasticity and the development of neurotherapeutics |
| Temitayo Oyegbile-Chidi M.D., Ph.D. | Epilepsy and sleep disorders in children and young adults |
| Elizabeth Prado, Ph.D. | Nutritional and other neurodevelopmental risks associated with poverty |
| Sally J. Rogers, Ph.D. | Neurodevelopmental disorders; Autism |
| Cynthia M.Schumann, Ph.D. | Cellular and molecular developmental trajectory of brain regions related to anxiety and autism |
| Julie Schweitzer, Ph.D. | Attention and impulsivity in children and adults in typical development and in ADHD |
| Jill L. Silverman, Ph.D. | Curative, precision strategies for single gene caused NDDs, intellectual disabilities and pediatric epilepsies |
| Sergi Simo, Ph.D. | Neuronal migration and related disorders |
| Tony Simon, Ph.D. | Attention, and spatial and temporal processing in development and neurodevelopmental disorders |
| Marjorie Solomon, Ph.D., M.B.A. | Cognitive neuroscience and autism specturm disorders |
| Aubyn C.Stahmer, Ph.D. | Autism assessment; psychosocial intervention |
| Danielle S. Stolzenberg, Ph.D. | Genetic and epigenetic mechanisms inexperience-dependent changes in caregiving behavior |
| Johnna Swartz, Ph.D. | Brain development and the development of mood and anxiety disorders |
| Lin Tian, Ph.D. | Tool development for analyzing and engineering functional neural circuits; Molecular mechanisms of neurological disorders |
| Judith Anne Van de Water, Ph.D. | Neuroimmunology, clinical immunology and immunopathology, gestational immune environment |
| Aijun Wang, Ph.D. | Novel tools, technologies, and therapeutics for tissue regeneration, especially in the CNS |
| Jane-Ling Wang, Ph.D. | Functional data analysis, survival analysis, brain functional connectivity, and deep learning. |
| Konstantinos Zarbalis, Ph.D. | Migration, differentiation, and connectivity of cortical neurons. |
| Min Zhao, M.D., Ph.D. | Bioelectricity / bioelectronics-guided cell migration and growth in wound healing and regeneration. |
| Chengji Zhou, Ph.D. | Morphogenetic signaling in neural development and regeneration |
| Karen Zito, Ph.D. | Molecular and cellular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity in learning and disease |