Patterning and Cell Type Specification in the Developing CNS and PNS

Dr. Rubenstein is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. He also serves as a Nina Ireland Distinguished Professor in Child Psychiatry at the Nina Ireland Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology. His research focuses on the regulatory genes that orchestrate development of the forebrain. Dr. Rubenstein's lab has demonstrated the role of specific genes in regulating neuronal specification, differentiation, migration and axon growth during embryonic development and on through adult life. His work may help to explain some of the mechanisms underlying human neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. Dr. Rakic is currently at the Yale School of Medicine, Department of Neuroscience, where his main research interest is in the development and evolution of the human brain. After obtaining his MD from the University of Belgrade School of Medicine, his research career began in 1962 with a Fulbright Fellowship at Harvard University after which he obtained his graduate degrees in Developmental Biology and Genetics. He held a faculty position at Harvard Medical School for 8 years prior to moving to Yale University, where he founded and served as Chair of the Department of Neurobiology for 37 years, and also founder and director of the Kavli Institute for Neuroscience. In 2015, he returned to work full-time on his research projects, funded by US Public Health Services and various private foundations.He is well known for his studies of the development and evolution of the brain, in particular his discovery of basic cellular and molecular mechanisms of proliferation and migration of neurons in the cerebral cortex. He was president of the Society for Neuroscience and popularized this field with numerous lectures given in over 35 counties. In 2008, Rakic shared the inaugural Kavli Prize in Neuroscience with Thomas Jessell and Stan Grillner. He is currently the Dorys McConell Duberg Professor of Neuroscience and serves on Advisory Boards and Scientific Councils of a number of Institutions and Research Foundations. Dr. Chen is Professor of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology at the 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 brain, and the assembly of these cell types into functional neural circuits. Dr. Chen completed her graduate study with Dr. Sidney Strickland at Stony Brook University-SUNY, and her post-doctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Susan McConnell at Stanford University. She has 22 years of experience in genetics and developmental neurobiology research. Her laboratory has been funded by the March of Dimes Foundation, California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, and National Institute of Health. Dr. Kwan is Assistant Professor of Human Genetics and Research Assistant Professor in the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute at the University of Michigan Medical School. Research in his laboratory is aimed at the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie normal neural circuit assembly in the cerebral cortex and their dysregulation in human neurodevelopmental disorders, in particular autism spectrum disorder, fragile X syndrome, and schizophrenia. Dr. Kwan completed his graduate and post-doctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Nenad Sestan at Yale School of Medicine. He has 14 years of experience in developmental neurobiology research and his worked has been recognized by awards from the Brain Research Foundation, March of Dimes Foundation, Simons Foundation, and Cajal Club.

• I: INDUCTION AND PATTERNING OF THE CNS AND PNS1. Morphogens, Patterning Centers, and their Mechanisms of ActionEdwin Shinichi Monuki2. Telencephalon PatterningShubha Tole and Jean Hébert3. Area Patterning of the Mammalian NeocortexElizabeth A. Grove4. Patterning of ThalamusGuillermina López-Bendito5. Midbrain Patterning: Polarity Formation of the Tectum, Midbrain Regionalization, and Isthmus OrganizerHarukazu Nakamura6. Cerebellar PatterningHitoshi Komuro7. Spinal Cord PatterningCatarina Catela8. The Formation and Maturation of Neuromuscular JunctionsGregorio Valdez9. Neural Induction of Embryonic Stem/Induced Pluripotent Stem CellsAnindita Sarkar, Maria Carol Marchetto and Fred H. Gage10. Cerebral organoidsOrly Reiner and Eyal Karzburn11. Formation of gyri and sulciKatherine Long and Wieland B. HuttnerII: GENERATION OF NEURONAL DIVERSITY12. Cell Biology of Neuronal Progenitor Cells Qin Shen13. Notch and Neural DevelopmentJoshua J. Breunig14. bHLH Factors in Neurogenesis and Neuronal Subtype Specification Jane Johnson15. The Specification and Generation of Neurons in the Ventral Spinal Cord Michael Matise and Kamal Sharma16. Neurogenesis in the CerebellumKathleen J Millen17. The Generation of Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons Sandra Blaess and Siew-Lan Ang18. Neurogenesis in the Basal GangliaKenneth James Campbell19. Specification of Cortical Projection Neurons: Transcriptional MechanismsJeffrey D. Macklis20. The Generation of Cortical Interneurons Gordon Fishell and Renata Batista-Brito21. Specification of Retinal Cell Types Bernadett Bosze, Robert B. Hufnagel and Nadean L. Brown22. Neurogenesis in the Postnatal VZ-SVZ and the Origin of Interneuron Diversity Arturo Alvarez-Buylla23. Neurogenesis in the Damaged Mammalian Brain Masato Nakafuku24. Neurogenesis in the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans Oliver Hobert25. Development of the Drosophila melanogaster embryonic CNS: From neuroectoderm to unique neurons and gliaStefan Thor26. Neurogenesis in Zebrafish Laure Bally-Cuif27. Gene regulatory networks controlling neuronal diversity: epigenetics/lncRNAs/enhancers Jason T. Lambert, Jessica Haigh and Alex S. Nord28. Post-transcriptional and translational control of neurogenesis Debra Silver29. Human neurogenesis: single cell sequencing and in vitro modeling (cerebral organoids) Arnold Kriegstein, Aparna Bhaduri and Madeline AndrewsIII: DEVELOPMENT OF GLIA, BLOOD VESSELS, CHOROID PLEXUS, IMMUNE CELLS IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM30. ‘Glial’ Biology: Has it Come to the Beginning of the End?David Rowitch and Arturo Alvarez-Buylla31. Neural Stem Cells Among GliaArnold Kriegstein and Arturo Alvarez-Buylla32. Structure and Function of Myelinated AxonsMatthew Rasband33. Mechanisms of Astrocyte DevelopmentDebosmita Sardar, Anna Victoria Molofsky and Benjamin Deneen34. Specification of Macroglia by Transcription Factors: OligodendrocytesMichael Wegner35. Specification of Macroglia by Transcription Factors: Schwann CellsJohn Svaren36. Signaling Pathways that Regulate Glial Development and Early Migration – Oligodendrocytes　Stephen Fancy and Robert H. Miller37. Signaling Pathways that Regulate Glial Development and Early Migration – Schwann CellsKristjan R. Jessen and Rhona Mirsky38. MicrogliaAstrid E. Cardona, Katerina Akassoglou and Dimitrios Davalos39. Ependymal cellsKazunobu Sawamoto and Nathalie Spassky40. Meninges and VasculatureJulie Siegenthaler and Samuel Pleasure41. Neuron–Glial Interactions: Neurotransmitter Signaling to Cells of the Oligodendrocyte LineageDwight Bergles42. Nonmammalian Model Systems: ZebrafishBruce Appel and Kelly Monk43. Astrocyte-Synapse Interactions and Neural Circuit RegulationNicola Allenin Glial Biology: Imaging Neuroglial Pathology In Vivo