Josh Sanes shares new research from his lab using single cell RNA sequencing to determine the genes expressed by thousands of single cells to complete a cell atlas of the human eye. This now allows scientists to target specific genes when treating conditions such as glaucoma and other ocular diseases.

Shan Meltzer and Emmanuella Asante share new research from the Ginty lab showing that the clustered protocadherin gamma (Pcdhg) gene locus regulates somatosensory neuron synapse formation, mechanosensory neuron branching patterns, and circuit assembly in the mechanosensory dorsal horn.

Loss of the inner ear sensory cells, the hair cells, is considered one of the most common causes of hearing loss that is generally permanent. Using single-cell RNAseq, advanced imaging, electrophysiology, and lineage tracing, Yizhou Quan, Zheng-Yi Chen, and colleagues identified a cocktail of drug-like molecules that effectively reprograms fully mature wildtype supporting cells for hair cell regeneration, representing a step forward for hearing restoration by HC regeneration.

Yuqin Yin and Larry Benowitz describe a new study using RNA sequencing and bioinformatics to identify the transcription factor REST (a.k.a. NRSF) as a key repressor of the genetic program required for neurons to regenerate axons in the central nervous system. Counteracting the inhibitory effects of REST enhances the ability of retinal ganglion cells to regenerate axons through the injured optic nerve and of cortical neurons to regenerate axons in the corticospinal tract.

Harvard Gazette article on new research from the lab of Paola Arlotta and colleagues at the Broad Institute, co-first authors Daniela Di Bella and Ehsan Habibi, combining single-cell genomic technologies to create an atlas for studying cellular diversification in the developing mouse cortex.

Brian Kalish (Greenberg lab) and Eunha Kim (Jun Huh lab) share findings from a single cell-RNA sequencing study that explores the impact of maternal immune activation (MIA) on protein synthesis in the fetal brain and reveals sex-specific effects.

HMS News article on how new research into a newly discovered primate brain cell type could improve studies on neuropsychiatric disease. From the labs of Stephen McCarroll, Guoping Feng, Gordon Fishell, Sabina Berretta, Leslie Kean, Chris Walsh and several others, first author Fenna Krienen.

Wenjun Yan shares three new papers from the lab of Josh Sanes using high throughput single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) in order to better understand cell types in the anterior segment and the retina of the human eye.

Round up of awards and honors earned by the HBI community.

New research from the lab of Michael Greenberg, co-first authors Sinisa Hrvatin and Senmiao Sun, discovering the neurons that control hibernation-like behaviors in mice.

BCH Discoveries article on new research from the labs of Jeffrey Holt, David Liu, & colleagues at the Broad and MIT (co-first authors Wei-Hsi Yeh & Olga Shubina-Oleinik). They used a new genetic engineering technique to restore hearing in deaf mice.

Harvard Medicine Magazine article sharing the perspectives of Xavier du Maine and four other HMS students on how the 2020 pandemic has affected their lives and research.

New findings by Mike Wallace and colleagues in the Sabatini lab suggest that the habenula contains distinct sub-circuits that control two neuromodulatory centers important for mood, motivation, and depression. 

Regardless of what genetic mutation causes glioblastoma, it can readily shift among four distinct cell types, each of which may need to be targeted separately.

Harvard Gazette Q+A with Anne Harrington about her new book documenting the rise of biological psychiatry.

Harvard Gazette article highlighting Paola Arlotta's lab's research into reproducible, miniature 3D models of human brain tissue and describing how these models open new frontiers in neuroscience.

The Department of Systems Biology celebrated the leadership of Marc Kirschner at the first annual Systems Biology Symposium at HMS.

He was honored at the Outstanding Postdoc Fellow Awards Symposium on November 7th.

Catherine Dulac was awarded the 2018 Karl Spencer Lashley Award by the American Philosophical Society.

Harvard Medical School received a transformational gift of $200 million from the The Blavatnik Family Foundation -- the largest gift in the school's history, to accelerate therapeutic discovery and spur scientific advances.

The $15,000 award recognizes outstanding achievements and contributions made by young neuroscientists who have demonstrated scholarly independence.

Harvard Gazette article on recent work from the labs of Xiaowei Zhuang, Catherine Dulac and colleagues, creating a first-of-its-kind cellular atlas of an important region in the brains of mice, the hypothalamic preoptic region.

Chenghua Gu, along with systems biologist Marc Kirschner and cancer researcher David Weinstock, received the Allen Distinguished Investigator award

HMS News article on recent research from the lab of Joseph El-Khoury about how immune checkpoint therapy may reduce damaging inflammation in neurodegenerative diseases.

HMS News article highlighting new work on sensory neuron diversity in the inner ear, from the labs of Lisa Goodrich and Charles Liberman at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Eye and Ear

HMS News article highlighting recent publication of a cellular atlas of a mouse brain, from the labs of Steven McCarroll and colleagues.