Repressing Neurogenic Competence in Glia of the Retina and Brain

Abstract

My group uses comparative single-cell multiomic analysis to identify gene regulatory networks that control neurogenesis and cell fate specification in developing retina and hypothalamus, as well as those that control neurogenic competence in retinal and hypothalamic glial cells. By integrating these findings, we aim to develop methods of replacing photoreceptors lost due to hereditary retinal dystrophies and of therapeutically modifying hypothalamic neural circuits that control essential physiological processes. I will focus on our group’s recent work on negative regulation of neurogenic competence in glial cells in the retina and brain.