#  Zach Barsdale 

he/him/his

 

 

 



   ![Photo of Zach Barsdale](/sites/g/files/omnuum5476/files/styles/hwp_4_5__320x400/public/2024-09/zach%20headshot.jpg?itok=m3V2T6Nm) 

 



 





 

**Thesis advisor:** David Liu

**Rotation labs:** Mandana Arbab, Daniel Hochbaum, David Liu

**For me, home is:** Roseville, California

**Prior degree(s):** BA in Molecular & Cell Biology (Neurobiology emphasis) UC Berkeley

**Research experience before PiN:** After becoming intrigued by the behavioral and cognitive shift I saw in a young boy with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) while caring for him, I joined Professor Kevin Weiner with UC Berkeley’s Cognitive Neuroanatomy Lab to study how deepening of tertiary sulci (small grooves in the brain) during development enhances human-specific cognitive function by bringing cortical regions closer, thereby shortening neural pathways and improving signal efficiency. Then, after graduating I joined Michael Greenberg’s lab at Harvard Medical School to understand the diverse collection of cells in the brain and their therapeutic implications for neurological disorders. I aimed to grant genetic access to varied neuronal cell types by characterizing a library of candidate enhancer elements, assessing their varied ability to drive transgene expression in cell types of-interest.

**Current research interests:** molecular neurobiology, neuronal epigenomics, treatments for chromatinopathies, synthetic biology

**Interests outside lab:** Weightlifting, painting, caring for my axolotl, curating my music collection, making music



 

 

 





 

 

- ## Entry year
    
     [2024-2025](/entry-year/2024-2025)
- ## People
    
     [Student](/people/student)