St. Jude Research
Developmental Neurobiology

Disease

Can we learn about brain function from neurological disease?

We can gain novel insights into nervous system development by studying how it is altered in disease. Most complex neurologic diseases are revealed when an environmental stress intersects with an underlying vulnerability that was otherwise masked. Our investigators are working to understand how chronic and acute stress can impact nervous system function and contribute to neurologic diseases.

  • How does stress affect each cell type and do they signal to each other? Is cellular stress cumulative? 
  • How does aging influence these processes? 
  • Do different tissues signal to each other during stress? 

By answering these questions, we will be able to develop new paradigms for initiation and progression of neurologic diseases.

Research programs

  • Baker Lab

    Deciphering the pathogenesis and therapeutic vulnerabilities of pediatric high-grade glioma

  • Demontis Lab

    Defining mechanisms of skeletal muscle aging, protein homeostasis, and myokines

  • Dyer Lab

    Investigating the deregulation of developmental pathways in pediatric solid tumors

  • Imoto Lab

    Investigating synaptic membrane and protein dynamics with millisecond temporal and nanometer spatial resolution.

  • Labelle lab

    Investigating the molecular mechanisms of cancer metastasis and how they are impacted by host-tumor cell interactions.

  • Mack Lab

    Interrogating the biology of pediatric brain tumors and developing preclinical models for therapeutic development

  • James I. Morgan, PhD

    Deciphering control of neuronal death and differentiation

  • Northcott Lab

    Leveraging multi-omic bulk and single-cell approaches to decipher molecular landscapes and developmental origins of medulloblastoma

  • Peng Lab

    Using mass spectrometry-based proteomics, metabolomics and systems biology to understand human disease

  • Plummer Lab

    Leveraging multi-omics approaches to understand genetic risk and developmental origins driving disease pathogenesis.

  • Elizabeth Stewart, MD

    Studying high risk pediatric solid tumors

  • Vevea Lab

    Understanding the molecular detail underlying basic mechanisms of organelle quality control and organelle trafficking in neurons.

  • Zakharenko Lab

    Investigating the neural circuits, synaptic function, and molecular mechanisms controlling learning and memory and their dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disease