Nathan Henderson, PhD

Research Interests

Synapse development, synapse function, synaptopathies, CRISPR, epigenetic control of brain development

Education

BS, Neuroscience, Temple University
PhD, Neuroscience, Thomas Jefferson University

Hometown

Philly area

Hobbies

Playing guitar, discovering new music, reading sci-fi novels, making friends with any dogs in the vicinity, being in nature

Brandon Brown, PhD

Research Interests

Neurotrauma, neuroplasticity, spinal cord circuitry, gene therapies

Education

BS, Kinesiology, Indiana University
MS, Kinesiology, Indiana University
PhD, Translational Neurosciences, University of Louisville

Hometown

Valparaiso, Indiana

Hobbies

Tennis, hiking, American whiskey/bourbon

Laura Sichlinger, PhD

Research Interests

Neurobiology of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, (epi-)genome engineering, next generation sequencing

Education

BA, Phonetics and Speech Processing, Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) Munich, Germany
MSc, Neuroscience, King’s College London, UK
PhD, Neuroscience, King’s College London, UK

Hometown

Munich, Germany & London, UK

Hobbies

Yoga, travelling, exploring different cuisines from all over the world, having a beer with friends

Elizabeth Heller, PhD

The Heller Lab research program is focused on elucidating the causal mechanisms by which epigenetic reprogramming contributes to neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disease. The Heller lab applies targeted epigenetic editing to determine the direct causal relevance of histone modifications to transcription, alternative splicing, and behavior. This approach will be applied to SynGAP1, to define gene regulatory mechanisms and contribute to novel therapeutic approaches. Dr. Heller is an Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. She received her PhD from The Rockefeller University and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Heller is the recipient of a 2017 NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, a 2020 SynGAP Research Fund Grant, and a 2023 Orphan Disease Center Million Dollar Bike Ride Award from the Syngap Research Fund.

Lab Members

Laura Sichlinger, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Julie Xian, BA

Data Researcher