Molecular Therapeutics Researchers
Center Co-Directors
Fan Wang is developing novel molecular strategies to activate pain-suppression neurons in the brain’s central amygdala with the goal of creating a powerful therapeutic approach for alleviating pain.
Feng Zhang is leading a broad effort to expand and improve the CRISPR gene editing platform to target genes associated with complex brain disorders.
Center Faculty
Polina Anikeeva works at the intersection of materials science, electronics, and neurobiology to design and fabricate new tools to treat disorders of the nervous system.
Ed Boyden is designing proteins that can cross the blood-brain barrier with the goal of moving these new molecular strategies into clinical trials in humans.
Guoping Feng is developing advanced primate models for psychiatric and developmental disorders and creating innovative ways to deliver gene therapy cargo into the brain.
Y. Eva Tan Fellows
Kayla Kroning
Postdoctoral Fellow, Wang Lab
Kayla Kroning is focused on engineering new genetically encoded tools to trace neural circuitry and to activate or deactivate specific neural circuits for therapeutic purposes.
Samira Mohammed
Postdoctoral Fellow, Jasanoff Lab
Keisuke Nagao
Graduate Fellow, Anikeeva Lab
Keisuke Nagao develops novel strategies for the systemic delivery of gene-editing tools to animal models via a chemical approach.
Guang Xu
Postdoctoral Fellow, Boyden Lab
Guang Xu uses advanced 2D human iPSC-based models and 3D human brain organoids to investigate microglia–oligodendrocyte communication in Alzheimer’s disease, aiming to uncover mechanisms that promote myelin formation and repair to inform therapeutic development.