NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series

Word processor for the genome: technologies for improving our understanding and treatment of diseases

Our research focuses on the development and application of novel molecular technologies for studying the nervous system. Given the complexity of the brain, it is important to develop both precise perturbation as well as quantitative readout methodologies so that we can systematically reverse-engineer how the brain is functionally organized.

The molecular logic of synapse formation in the brain

Thomas Südhof is interested in how synapses form and function in the developing and adult brain. His work focuses on the role of synaptic cell-adhesion molecules in establishing synapses and shaping their properties, on pre- and postsynaptic mechanisms of membrane traffic, and on impairments in synapse formation and synaptic function in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.