Andre Sousa
Credentials: Neuroscience Department
Position title: Molecular and cellular mechanisms of human brain development and evolution.
Email: andre.sousa@wisc.edu
Phone: 608-890-0875
Address:
T509 Waisman Center
1500 Highland Ave.
Madison, WI 53706
LAB WEBSITE:
FOCUS GROUPS:
Developmental Biology & Regenerative Medicine; Transcriptional Mechanisms
RESEARCH DESCRIPTION:
Our lab aims to identify and characterize the molecular and cellular mechanisms that govern human brain development and evolution, and to apply that knowledge towards understanding neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. To achieve this goal, we apply a multifaceted approach that combines: 1) functional genomic studies to identify genes that are critical for proper neurodevelopment and have conserved or human specific expression profiles; 2) developmental neurobiology studies that combine induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, mouse genetic models, and postmortem human and NHP brains to characterize the functions of those candidate genes in the development of the brain; 3) molecular and cellular biology studies that inform the biological processes that are disrupted by alterations in those genes, particularly the ones that are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders.