Stanley Center Investigators

Human Genetics

Ben Neale (MGH)
Director of Human Genetics
Interrogation of common and rare genetics of psychiatric disorders via collaborative studies and the development of novel statistical methods.

Hailiang Huang (MGH)
Associate Director of Human Genetics
Development and application of cutting-edge statistical genetics and computational techniques to understand the genetic architecture of autoimmune and psychiatric disorders.

Elise Robinson (HSPH)
Associate Director of Human Genetics
Analyses of genetic influences on human behavioral and cognitive variation and use of genetic data to understand the biological basis of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disease.

Lori Chibnik (HSPH)
Genetics and genomics of Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia with an emphasis on longitudinal cohorts and cognition and the use of biostatical methods and predictive modeling.

Mark Daly (MGH)
Development and application of statistical methods for discovery and interpretation of genetic variation in neuropsychiatric, neurodevelopmental, and inflammatory disorders.

Hilary Finucane (MGH)
Development and application of statistical and computational methods for analyzing human genetics data.

Konrad Karczewski (MGH)
Assembling and analyzing massive public datasets of genetic variation, and developing novel strategies using these to aid in the interpretation of putative disease variants.

Karestan Koenen (HSPH)
Understanding the development of, and resistance to, PTSD and related health problems and their effects on long-term physical health and aging, as well as mental health advocacy work.

Alicia Martin (MGH)
Population and statistical genetics of global genetic and phenotypic diversity to understand complex disease risks, including psychiatric risk, and the evolution of complex human traits.

Steve McCarroll (HMS)
Understanding brain disorders and mental health via generation and analysis of high-volume molecular data on human brain tissue and relation of biological measures to genetic effects.

Aarno Palotie (MGH)
Genetics of neurological, neurodevelopmental, and neuropsychiatric traits, particularly drawing on the unique clinical and population-based Finnish founder data including cohorts like FinnGen and SUPER.

Michael Talkowski (MGH)
Global population genomic discovery, mechanistic modeling, and diagnostic interpretations in complex developmental and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Wei Zhou (MGH)
Developing and applying computational and statistical genetics methods to analyze large-scale biobanks and high-dimensional omics datasets of complex human diseases.

Methods & Tool Development

Paola Arlotta (Harvard)
3D cerebral organoid culture technologies to assess the molecular laws that govern the birth, differentiation, and assembly of the human cerebral cortex in health and disease.

Ben Deverman (Broad)
Technical development focused on engineering viral vector gene delivery vehicles to address specific needs of the neuroscience community.

Hailiang Huang (MGH)
Development and application of cutting-edge statistical genetics and computational techniques to understand the genetic architecture of autoimmune and psychiatric disorders.

Kasper Lage (MGH)
Genomic, multi-omic cellular and computational approaches used to gain mechanistic insights into diseases that include psychiatric disorders, metabolic diseases, and cancers.

Joshua Levin (Broad)
Transcriptomic approaches to improve our understanding of brain function as it relates to disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

Evan Macosko (Broad)
Development of new genomics technologies to identify novel cell populations, especially to understand how they contribute to psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases.

Ralda Nehme (Broad)
Using human cellular models to identify cellular programs and traits modulated by genetic variants associated with neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, and neurodegenerative disorders.

Xiao Wang (Broad)
Development and application of chemical and genomic tools to understand the RNA life cycle and RNA-based gene regulation within intact cells and tissues in health and disease.

Neurobiology

Lindy Barrett (Broad)
Use of human iPSC models to elucidate fundamental molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders.

Randy Buckner (Harvard)
Behavioral, neuroimaging and computational approaches to human brain network organization and genetic variation effects in neurodegeneration and neuropsychatric illness

Bob Datta (Harvard)
Using unbiased monitoring and genetic manipulations in animal models to reveal how the brain constructs and drives purposeful natural behaviors.

Ben Deverman (Broad)
Technical development focused on engineering viral vector gene delivery vehicles to address specific needs of the neuroscience community.

Guoping Feng (MIT)
Molecular genetics, electrophysiology, and behavioral tools to assess synaptic and circuit development in health and their disruption in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders.

Gordon Fishell (HMS)
Exploration of inhibitory interneuron diversity and circuit formation and how perturbations in these processes lead to diseases such as autism, intellectual disability, and schizophrenia.

Zhanyan Fu (Broad)
Electrophysiological analyses in animal models to understand the contribution of synaptic and circuitry defects to psychiatric disorders and to explore novel treatments.

Adam Granger (Broad)
Brain function and dysfunction in psychiatric, developmental, and neurodegenerative disorders using synaptic, circuit, behavioral tools in animal and stem cell models.

Matthew Johnson (Broad)
Interactions between neurodevelopment, neuroimmune signaling, genetic and environmental risk factors in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and biomarker discovery for these disorders.

Prabhat Kunwar (Broad)
Neural circuit mechanisms in animal models used to understand brain and mental disorders and to translate these discoveries into novel therapeutics.

Kasper Lage (MGH)
Genomic, multi-omic cellular and computational approaches used to gain mechanistic insights into diseases that include psychiatric disorders, metabolic diseases, and cancers.

Joshua Levin (Broad)
Transcriptomic approaches to improve our understanding of brain function as it relates to disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

Evan Macosko (HMS)
Development of new genomics technologies to identify novel cell populations, especially to understand how they contribute to psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases.

Jen Pan (Broad)
Molecular, electrophysiological, and behavioral analyses used to uncover genetically based mechanisms of epilepsy and psychiatric disorders and to identify small molecule therapeutics.

Elise Robinson (HSPH)
Analyses of genetic influences on human behavioral and cognitive variation and use of genetic data to understand the biological basis of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disease.

Bernardo Sabatini (HMS)
Analyzing mechanisms of synapse and circuit development and plasticity driving learning, and their perturbation in disorders such as Tuberous Sclerosis Complex and Parkinson’s Disease.

Morgan Sheng (Broad, MIT)
Studying the mechanisms of serious mental illness (from molecular to systems level), with the goal of discovering new treatments for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and neuroinflammation.

Beth Stevens (CH)
Neuro-immune interactions in healthy brain development and in the pathobiology of neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, and neurodegenerative disorders.

Therapeutics & Biomarkers

Morgan Sheng (Broad, MIT)
Head of Therapeutics
Studying the mechanisms of serious mental illness (from molecular to systems level), with the goal of discovering new treatments for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and neuroinflammation..

Steve Hyman (Broad, Harvard)
Chair of Schizophrenia Spectrum Biomarkers Consortium
Identification of objective biomarkers to enable better diagnosis of and treatment for schizophrenia and related illnesses.

Jen Pan (Broad)
Director of Therapeutics Translational Neurobiology
Molecular, electrophysiological, and behavioral analyses used to uncover genetically based mechanisms of epilepsy and psychiatric disorders and to identify small molecule therapeutics.

Ed Scolnick (Broad)
Chief Scientist Emeritus

Hailiang Huang (MGH)
Development and application of cutting-edge statistical genetics and computational techniques to understand the genetic architecture of autoimmune and psychiatric disorders.

Prabhat Kunwar (Broad)
Neural circuit mechanisms in animal models used to understand brain and mental disorders and to translate these discoveries into novel therapeutics.

Michel Weïwer (Broad, CDoT)
Development of small molecule therapeutics to treat the development and progression of psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression.

Yan-Ling Zhang (Broad)
Development of biologically relevant high-throughput biochemical and phenotypic assays for high-throughput drug target screening for psychiatric disorders.