Seminar – Peter Tsai, MD, PhD – Topic: The Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Synapse and Neural Circuit Development
Peter Tsai, MD, PhD
UT-Southwestern
Profile
About the Speaker: Originally from Houston, Peter Tsai graduated from Harvard University with an A.B. in Biochemical Sciences before migrating west to the University of California – Los Angeles – where he completed his M.D./Ph.D. There, he worked in the laboratory of Dr. Hong Wu, M.D., Ph.D. where he investigated the contribution of the Erythropoietin Receptor in neuronal development and post stroke neurogenesis. After completion of his graduate and medical training, he returned east where he completed his pediatrics and child neurology residencies at Boston Children’s Hospital. He then completed a child behavioral neurology fellowship where he started and directed the Cerebellar Neurodevelopmental Disorders Clinic, focusing not only on the motor aspects of cerebellar dysfunction but also on the significant cognitive and behavioral sequelae of these disorders.
He joined the laboratory of Dr. Mustafa Sahin, M.D., Ph.D. where he investigated the contribution of cerebellar dysfunction to autistic behaviors by developing a cerebellar mouse model of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. There, he was faculty from 2011–2014, until he made the move to Dallas to further pursue these research interests. Clinically, Dr. Tsai continues to care for children with autism and cerebellar dysfunction in the Center for Autism & Developmental Disabilities while pursuing his interests in delineating the mechanisms by which cerebellar dysfunction results in abnormal cognition and behavior in neurodevelopmental disorders.
For Further Information, Contact: Clark Kellogg at kellogg@waisman.wisc.edu
The seminar series is funded by the John D. Wiley Conference Center Fund, the Friends of the Waisman Center and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) grant P50HD105353.