Bin Chen, PhD
University of California – Santa Cruz
Profile
About the Speaker: Dr. Bin Chen is a Professor of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology at University of California, Santa Cruz. Research in her laboratory focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie the generation of diverse cell types in the mammalian brain, and the assembly of these cell types into functional neural circuits. Dr. Chen received her Bachelor and Master degrees in Cell Biology and Genetics from Beijing University, under the mentorship of Professor Zhai Zhonghe. Dr. Chen completed her graduate study with Dr. Sidney Strickland at Stony Brook University-SUNY, and her postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Susan McConnell at Stanford University.
Her lab uses a combination of genetic loss-of-function and gain-of-function approaches to investigate genes that regulate the differentiation of seemingly homogeneous neural stem cells into the diverse neuronal phenotypes that populate the mature cerebral cortex. They are currently identifying candidate genes that likely regulate cortical projection neuron fates and testing their functions during differentiation of neural stem cells into different neural types, and in neural circuit formation during development.
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.
