Dr Maria Chiara Manzini

The goal of my laboratory is to study how disorders of brain development affect cognitive function. We start from the identification of human mutations that cause neurodevelopmental disorders such as intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder and brain malformations. We then develop animal models (mouse and zebrafish) to recapitulate the human mutation to understand both pathognesis and the mechnisms of brain development. We focus our cellular and molecular work on intracellular signaling pathways which could be targeted for novel therapeutic approaches.

I recently joined the faculty at RWJMS and will be teaching in both the medical school and graduate school. I will be able to accept students in the Molecular Biosciences and Neuroscience graduate program. I have extensive teaching experience in both medical and biological education and human genetics/neuroscience training.