About
My primary focus is in creating a detailed cellular and circuit understanding of the human brain, incorporating single cell genomics, spatial transcriptomics and functional characterization of cell types. We aim to create transformative cell atlases to catalyze the community and link disparate parts of the neuroscience community by bridging scales between functional organization that can be measured in living individuals and cellular and circuit organization that can only be studied in postmortem tissues. My laboratory uses these techniques to perform comparative studies to understand the basic mammalian brain cellular blueprint, understand human specific features that are relevant for human cognition and disease, and develop tools for genetic targeting of specific cell types across species including human. I am particularly interested in using these tools and knowledge to study the cellular consequences of Alzheimer’s disease, and to develop precision gene therapy strategies for cell type-targeted therapeutics for treating brain diseases.
Awards
- Member, Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society
- Member, Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society
- Member, Golden Key National Honor Society
Relevant Publications
- Bakken, T. E., Jorstad, N. L., Hu, Q., Lake, B. B., Tian, W., Kalmbach, B. E., Crow, M., Hodge, R. D., Krienen, F. M., Sorensen, S. A., Eggermont, J., Yao, Z., Aevermann, B. D., Aldridge, A. I., Bartlett, A., Bertagnolli, D., Casper, T., Castanon, R. G., Crichton, K., . . . Lein, E. S. (2021). Comparative cellular analysis of motor cortex in human, marmoset and mouse. Nature, 598(7879), 111-119. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03465-8
- Berg, J., Sorensen, S. A., Ting, J. T., Miller, J. A., Chartrand, T., Buchin, A., Bakken, T. E., Budzillo, A., Dee, N., Ding, S. L., Gouwens, N. W., Hodge, R. D., Kalmbach, B., Lee, C., Lee, B. R., Alfiler, L., Baker, K., Barkan, E., Beller, A., . . . Lein, E. S. (2021). Human neocortical expansion involves glutamatergic neuron diversification. Nature, 598(7879), 151-158. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03813-8
- Hodge, R. D., Bakken, T. E., Miller, J. A., Smith, K. A., Barkan, E. R., Graybuck, L. T., Close, J. L., Long, B., Johansen, N., Penn, O., Yao, Z., Eggermont, J., Hollt, T., Levi, B. P., Shehata, S. I., Aevermann, B., Beller, A., Bertagnolli, D., Brouner, K., . . . Lein, E. S. (2019). Conserved cell types with divergent features in human versus mouse cortex. Nature, 573(7772), 61-68. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1506-7