Our research seeks to understand how protein synthesis at the synapse is used to facilitate experience-dependent changes in brain function. Advances in technology have led to an increasingly complex picture of the RNA landscape of the neuron. Specific mechanisms of splicing, transport and translation have been identified that allow activity driven changes to persist at synapses. We are using new tools in RNA sequencing, proteomics and imaging to understand how specific neuron populations encode information through changes in the RNA and protein environment.

Our goal is to gain a better understanding of experience dependent learning, and discover how dysregulation of translation causes pathology in neurodevelopmental disorders such as Fragile X Syndrome (FXS).