Past Lunch Series Speakers


2023

Shreya Mahajan, February 10, 2023
Mriganka Sur Laboratory, MIT
Title: Temporal expectation in marmosets

Stephan Meylan, Ph.D., February 24, 2023
Postdoctoral Associate, MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Computational Psycholinguistics Lab
Title: Child-directed listening: How adults understand what young children say

Danielle Tomasello, Ph.D., March 24, 2023
Postdoctoral Fellow, Rudolf Jaenisch Laboratory, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Title: The consequence of dysfunctional mitochondria in Rett Syndrome astrocytes

Halie Olson, Ph.D., April 28, 2023
Rebecca Saxe Laboratory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: Conversation in the brain

Menglong Zeng, Ph.D., May 19, 2023
Postdoctoral Fellow, Guoping Feng Laboratory, McGovern Institute, MIT
Title: Charactering the molecular architecture of excitatory synapse onto GABAergic interneurons

Ruidong Chen, Ph.D., September 8, 2023
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Mehrdad Jazayeri Laboratory, McGovern Institute, MIT
Title: Observational learning in the macaque brain

Chenjie Shen, Ph.D., September 29, 2023
Postdoctoral Fellow, Guoping Feng Laboratory, McGovern Institute, MIT
Title: Advanced Genetic Therapies for the Treatment of Rett Syndrome

Sajal Sen, Ph.D., October 20, 2023
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Alan Jasanoff Laboratory, MIT
Title: Probing Cholinergic Brain Function Using Multimodal Molecular Imaging

Tamar Regev, Ph.D., November 17, 2023
Postdoctoral Associate, Ev Fedorenko Laboratory, MIT; Fellow of the Poitras Center for Psychiatric Research
Title: A network of brain areas is sensitive to prosody and distinct from language and auditory areas

Alex Major, Ph.D., December 15, 2023
Postdoctoral Associate, Earl Miller Laboratory, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, MIT
Title: Probing the cortical circuits that prevent sensory overload

2022

John Gabrieli, Ph.D., Grover Hermann Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and Cognitive Neuroscience, McGovern Institute, MIT;
Jesse Snedeker, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, Harvard University;
Pawan Sinha, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT. December 2, 2022
Title:
Predictive Processes in Autistic and Neuro-typical Individuals

Sophie Bridgers, Ph.D., November 18, 2022
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Laura Schulz Laboratory, MIT
Title:
Loopholes: A window into goal communication and alignment

Kohitij Kar, Ph.D., November 4, 2022
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Science, York University (Toronto); Canada Research Chair in Visual Neuroscience;  Visiting Scientist at McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT (DiCarlo Lab); Research Affiliate at the Center for Brain, Minds and Machines (MIT); Scientific Advisor, BeMe.ai
Title:
Developing a closed-loop framework using artificial neural networks and non-human primate experiments to test theories of atypical visual processing in autistic adults

Seng Bum Michael Yoo, Ph.D., October 21, 2022
Past Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Mehrdad Jazayeri Laboratory. Current position: Assistant Professor, Sungkyunkwan University
Title: Using network models to probe reduced sensitivity to others’ information in observation learning

Sajal Sen, Ph.D., September 23, 2022
Simons Fellow, Alan Jasanoff Laboratory, MIT
Title: Probing Cholinesterase Activity In Autism Using Novel Multimodal MRI Contrast Agents

Emily Hueske, Ph.D., May 6, 2022
Research Scientist, Graybiel Laboratory, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Title:
Striosomal circuits underlying repetitive behaviors in ASD model

Chenjie Shen, Ph.D., April 22, 2022
Simons Fellow, Guoping Feng Laboratory, McGovern Institute, MIT
Title: From Disease Modeling to Next-Generation Gene Therapy

Michael Segel, Ph.D., March 18, 2022
Simons Fellow, Feng Zhang Laboratory, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Title: Harnessing endogenous retroelements for gene therapy

Alex Major, Ph.D., February 11, 2022
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Earl Miller Laboratory, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, MIT
Title: Probing the cortical circuits that prevent sensory overload

2021

Shaoyu Lin, Ph.D., December 3, 2021
Simons Fellow, Kwanghun Chung Laboratory, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Institute of Medical Engineering and Science, MIT
Title: Impact of cellular metabolism on corticogenesis – an observation from human cortical organoid culture

Alan Jasanoff, Ph.D., November 19, 2021
Professor, Biological Engineering, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Nuclear Science and Engineering; Associate Investigator, McGovern Institute; Director, Center for Neurobiological Engineering
Title: Understanding functional connectivity in the mammalian brain

John Gabrieli, Ph.D., October 15, 2021
Grover Hermann Professor, Health Sciences and Technology; Professor, Brain and Cognitive Sciences; Investigator, McGovern Institute; Director, Athinoula A. Martinos Imaging Center; Director, MIT Integrated Learning Initiative; Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Title: Enhanced Rationality in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Sophie Bridgers, Ph.D., September 24, 2021
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, MIT BCS Early Childhood Cognition Lab (PI: Laura Schulz) and Harvard Computation, Cognition, and Development Lab (PI: Tomer Ullman)
Title: Loopholes, a Window into Value Alignment and the Learning of Meaning

Haoran Xu, Ph.D., May 14, 2021
Postdoctoral Associate, Desimone Laboratory, McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT
 Title: Mapping the social brain in marmosets

Pawan Sinha, Ph.D., April 23, 2021
Professor of Vision and Computational Neuroscience, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: Prediction in Autism

Xuyu Qian, Ph.D., March 26, 2021
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Christopher Walsh Laboratory, Harvard University
Title: Modeling Neurodevelopmental Disorders Using Human iPSC-derived Brain Organoids

Frederik Kamps, Ph.D., February 26, 2021
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Rebecca Saxe Laboratory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: Early emergence and later development of face, scene, and object regions revealed by natural vision

2020

Jakob Voigts, Ph.D., November 13, 2020
Postdoctoral Fellow, Mark Harnett Laboratory, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: Representation of spatial hypotheses in mouse retrosplenial cortex

Liron Rozenkrantz, Ph.D., October 9, 2020
Simons Fellow, John Gabrieli Laboratory, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: Exploring Enhanced Rationality in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Hiroki Sugihara, Ph.D., September 25, 2020
Research Scientist, Mriganka Sur Laboratory, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: Exploring Temporal Expectation in Marmosets

William Menegas, Ph.D., May 8, 2020
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Guoping Feng Laboratory, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: A quantitative description of natural and induced marmoset behavior

Menglong Zeng, Ph.D., April 3, 2020
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: Shank3 protein: roles in synaptic plasticity and in autism spectrum disorder  

Jesse Snedeker, Ph.D., February 21, 2020
Professor, Department of Psychology, Harvard University
Title: Moment-to-moment language comprehension in highly verbal children with autism: Studies of prosody, pragmatics and the role of context

2019

Jitendra Sharma, Ph.D., December 6, 2019
Research Scientist, Mriganka Sur Laboratory, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, MIT
Title: Investigating circuits related to autism in primate models

Ann Graybiel, Ph.D., November 22, 2019
Institute Professor, MIT; Investigator, McGovern Institute for Brain Research
Title: The Striatum and the Motivation to Act

Dara S. Manoach, Ph.D., November 8, 2019
Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
Title: Targeting sleep oscillations to improve cognition in neurodevelopmental disorders

Oliver Saunders Wilder, Ph.D., October 25, 2019
Research Affiliate at the MIT Media Lab & Lead Technologist at Tools of the Mind
Title: Using Interpersonal Physiology to Measure Socio-affective Dynamics: Techniques, Findings, and Opportunities

Sasha Krol, Ph.D., September 27, 2019
Simons Fellow, Guoping Feng Laboratory, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Title: Uncovering the origins of autism risk gene Ptchd1-associated aggression

Hector Penagos, Ph.D., September 6, 2019
Research Scientist, Wilson Laboratory, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, MIT
Title: Assessing thalamic participation in a joint hippocampus-retrosplenial cortex offline state

Anila D’Mello Ph.D., May 10, 2019
Simons Fellow, John Gabrieli Laboratory, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Title: Characterizing Neural Adaptation in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Michael Halassa, M.D., Ph.D., April 12, 2019
Assistant Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: Frontothalamic interactions in cognitive control and flexibility

Nancy Padilla, Ph.D., March 22, 2019
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Kay Tye Laboratory, Picower Institute of Learning and Memory, MIT
Title: Investigating the neural circuits underlying social dominance in mice

Danielle Tomasello, Ph.D., February 22, 2019
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Hazel Sive Laboratory, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Title: FAM57B Ceramide Synthase, a Hub Gene within 16p11.2 Deletion Syndrome, Maintains Physiological Lipid Membrane Composition

Nan Li, Ph.D., February 8, 2019
Postdoctoral Fellow, Alan Jasanoff Laboratory, MIT
Title: Toward functional and molecular neuroimaging analysis of marmoset models

2018 

Guoping Feng, Ph.D., December 14, 2018
Poitras Chair Professor of Neuroscience, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Talk Title: Thalamic reticular nucleus dysfunction in neurodevelopmental disorders

Rogier Landman, Ph.D., November 16, 2018
Research Affiliate, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Talk Title: Behavioral characterization of non-human primates for autism research

Jakob Voigts, October 20, 2018
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Mark Harnett Lab, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Talk Title: Dendritic mechanisms for navigation in retrosplenial cortex

Yang Zhou, Ph.D., October 5, 2018
Research Scientist, Guoping Feng Lab, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Title: Searching the Neural Basis of ASD from Genetically Engineered Model Systems

Laurel Gabard-Durnam, Ph.D., September 14, 2018
Autism Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, Labs of Cognitive Neuroscience, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
TitleNeuroimaging evidence for Autism biomarkers across the first year of life

Jeong-Tae Kwon, Ph.D., June 1, 2018
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Gloria Choi Laboratory, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Title: “Neuromodulatory Control of Social Behavior in Amygdala”

Sasha Krol, Ph.D., May 4,  2018
Simons Fellow, Feng Lab, McGovern Institute, MIT
Title: “Uncovering the developmental and circuit origin of ASD-associated aggression”

Julian Jara-Ettinger, Ph.D., April 27, 2018
Assistant Professor of Psychology and Computer Science, Yale University
Title: “Computational principles underlying social cognition: similarities and differences in ASD”

Caroline Robertson, Ph.D., April 6, 2018
Postdoctoral Fellow, MIT McGovern Institute, Incoming Assistant Professor, Dartmouth College
Title: “Advancing a Marker of Reduced GABAergic Action in the Autistic Brain: Pharmacological Investigations

Siyuan Rao, Ph.D., March 23, 2018
Polina Anikeeva Laboratory, Research Laboratory of Electronics and Simons Center for Social Brain, MIT
Title: Magnetochemogenetic Technique for Remote Manipulation of Genetically Identifiable Neurons”

Dara S. Manoach, Ph.D., February 16, 2018
Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Title: “Abnormal sleep spindles in neurodevelopmental disorders: Treatable endophenotypes that link risk genes to impaired cognition?”

Ted Gibson, Ph.D., February 9, 2018
Professor of Cognitive Science, Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: “The structure of pragmatic reasoning and the scope of the communicative impairment in ASD”

2017

Michael Strano, Ph.D., December 8, 2017
Carbon P. Dubbs Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT
Title: Applications of Nanosensors to Understanding Biochemical Signaling Within the Human Body

Mehmet Kanik, Ph.D., December 1, 2017
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Polina Anikeeva Lab, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT
Title: Brain Challenges and Materials Solutions

Ritchie Chen, Ph.D., November 3, 2017
Postdoctoral Fellow, Chung Laboratory, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, MIT
Title: Simultaneous profiling of nucleotides, proteins, and fluorescence activity in transparent tissue enabled by flexible and multifunctional fixatives

David C. Page, Ph.D., October 27, 2017
Director, Whitehead Institute; Professor of Biology, MIT; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Title: Sex and Disease: Do males and females read their genomes differently?

Nader Morshed, October 20, 2017
Graduate Student, White Lab, David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT
Title: Using phosphoproteomics to study signaling dysregulation in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases

Hector Luis Penagos-Vargas, Ph.D., September 22, 2017
Research Scientist, Wilson Laboratory, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, MIT
Title: Increases in reward elicit the expression of a joint offline state in the rodent hippocampus and retrosplenial cortex

Ian Wickersham, Ph.D., August 25, 2017
Principal Research Scientist, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Title: “Cell-type-specific transgene expression in wild-type animals using endogenous proteins as skeletons for assembling split transcription factors”

Ev Fedorenko, Ph.D., July 7, 2017
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, HMS; Associate Researcher, MGH; Research Affiliate, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: “A search for candidate brain-based biomarkers of autism”

Joshua Tenenbaum, Ph.D., May 19, 2017
Professor of Computational Cognitive Science, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: “Computational Models of Social Cognition”

Pawan Sinha, Ph.D., April 28, 2017
Professor of Vision and Computational Neuroscience, MIT
Dagmar Sternad, Ph.D., Professor, Departments of Biology, Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Physics, Northeastern University
Nouchine Hadjikhani, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor in Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Associate Neuroscientist and Director of Neurolimbic Research, Mass General Hospital, Visiting Professor, GNC, Gothenburg University, Sweden
Title: “The Predictive Impairment in Autism hypothesis: An empirical assessment”

Ashley Watson, Ph.D., April 7, 2017
Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Li-Huei Tsai’s laboratory, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Title: “Chromatin organization and function in the molecular etiology of autism”

Ian Wickersham, Ph.D., March 3, 2017
Principal Research Scientist, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Title: “New circuit-specific and cell-type-specific techniques for targeting neurons”

Oliver Wilder-Smith, Ph.D., February 17, 2017
Northeastern University; Simons Center Postdoctoral Fellow (Fall 2017)
Title: “Quantitative Analysis of Socio-Affective Dynamics in Autism Using Interpersonal Physiology”

Yeong Shin Yim, Ph.D., February 3, 2017
Simons Center Postdoctoral Fellow, Gloria Choi Laboratory, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Title: “Reversing autism-like behaviors in mouse offspring exposed to maternal inflammation”

2016

Ian Slaymaker, Ph.D., December 9, 2016
Simons Center Postdoctoral Fellow, Feng Zhang Laboratory, McGovern Institute; Broad Institute, MIT
Title: “Knockdown of Chd8 causes nucleus accumbens linked autism-like phenotypes in mice”

Rebecca Saxe, Ph.D., December 2, 2016
Professor of Cognitive Science, Martinos Imaging Center, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: “Social information processing in the brains of people with ASD: two wrong hypotheses, and the road ahead”

Paul Blainey, Ph.D., November 4, 2016
Assistant Professor of Biological Engineering, MIT; Core Member, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT
Title: “High content pooled genomic screening”

Eleni K. Maneta, M.D. and Themistoklis P. Sapsis, Ph.D., October 21, 2016
Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children’s Hospital; Harvard Medical School
Title: “Learning, categorization and generalization in Autism Spectrum Disorder”

Xin Tang, Ph.D., October 7, 2016
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Rudolf Jaenisch Lab, Whitehead Institute and Picower Institute for Learning & Memory, MIT
Title: “Identification of Small Molecule Compounds to Treat Rett Syndrome with a Human Neuron-based Drug Screening Platform”

Alan Jasanoff, Ph.D., September 23, 2016
Professor of Biological Engineering, Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Nuclear Science & Engineering, MIT
Title: “Dissecting functional brain connectivity in a rodent model of ASD”

Barak Boaz, Ph.D., June 10, 2016
Simons Fellow, Guoping Feng lab, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Title: “Neurobiology of social behavior abnormalities and the role of Gtf2i in the etiology of Williams syndrome”

Caroline Robertson, Ph.D., April 15, 2016
Harvard Society of Fellows
Title: “Reduced GABAergic Action in the Autistic Brain”

Stefano Anzellotti, Ph.D., March 18, 2016
Simons Fellow, Rebecca Saxe lab, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: “Uncovering the dialogue between brain regions: directed and multivariate connectivity methods and their application to the study of Autism Spectrum Disorders”

Aviv Regev, M.Sc., Ph.D., February 26, 2016
Department of Biology, MIT; Broad Institute; Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Title: “Towards a neuron cell atlas with single cell genomics”

2015

Han Kyoung Choe, Ph.D., December 11, 2015
Postdoctoral Fellow, Gloria Choi lab, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Title: Associative Learning of Positive and Negative Social Cues Both Require Oxytocin Signaling”

Dara Manoach, Ph.D., November 13, 2015
Associate Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Title: “Multimodal neuroimaging in autism: studies of cognitive control and brain connectivity”

Or Shemesh, Ph.D., October 9, 2015
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Synthetic Neurobiology Group, MIT
Title: “Membrane-targeted nanodiamonds for labeling neurons and sensing their activity”

Fernando Bustos, Ph.D., September 18, 2015
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Martha Constantine-Paton Lab, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Title: “Use of CRISPRs to Remove a Spontaneous Mouse Mutation Causing Abnormal Anxiety- /Autism-like Behaviors”

Elizabeth Canovic,  Ph.D., August 14, 2015
Postdoctoral Associate, Krystyn Van Vliet Laboratory,  Dept. of Biological Eng. & Materials Science and Eng., MIT
Title: “Probing the mechanical properties of brain in a tuberous sclerosis model of autism”

Walter Kaufmann, M.D., Director, Rett Syndrome Program, BCH, Prof. of Neurology, HMS &
Heather O’Leary, B.Sc., Applications Support Specialist II, Rett Research Program, Dept. of Neurology, BCH, HMS,
July 24, 2015
Title: “Study of hand stereotypies using actigraphy”

Elizabeth Norton, Ph.D., June 12, 2015
SCSB Schwinn Family Postdoctoral Fellow, John Gabrieli Laboratory, MIT
Title: “Using simultaneous EEG-fMRI to characterize human face processing in space and time”

Zsuzsa Kaldy, Ph.D.May 22, 2015
Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Title: “Mechanisms of visual attention in 2-year-old toddlers with and without ASD”

Margaret Kjelgaard,Ph.D., CCC-SLP,  May 1, 2015
Associate Professor, Comm. Sci. & Disorders, MGH Institute of Health Professions
Title: “Autism as a disorder of prediction: Empirical support for a new hypothesis”

Sandra Siegert, Ph.D., April 17, 2015
Postdoctoral Associate, Tsai Lab, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, MIT
Title: “The autism and schizophrenia risk gene miR-137 impacts presynaptic plasticity”

Uthpala Seneviratne, Ph.D., April 10, 2015
Departments Biological Engineering and Chemistry, Research Associate, Steven R. Tannenbaum lab, MIT
Title: “S-Nitrosation of Neuronal Proteins is a Major Modulator of Protein Activity in the Brain”

Lindsey Powell, Ph.D., March 13, 2015
Simons Center Postdoctoral Fellow, Rebecca Saxe Laboratory, MIT
Title: “Using near-infrared spectroscopy to study the development of the social brain in human infants”

Brad Carter, Ph.D., February 27, 2015
Simons Center Postdoctoral Fellow, Sive Lab, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Title: “Functional investigation of autism spectrum disorder genetic associations using zebrafish”

Limor Freifeld, Ph.D., February 13, 2015
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Fatih Yanik and Ed Boyden Laboratories, MIT
Title: “Characterizing neural activity and behavior correlates of excitation-inhibition imbalance in larval zebrafish”

Ulrich Froriep, Ph.D.January 23, 2015
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Polina Anikeeva Laboratory, MIT
Title: “Fiber-based probes for long term interrogation of neural circuits”

2014

Noah Riskin, December 12, 2014
Research Affiliate, Athletic Coach, Department of Mathematics, MIT
Title: “The Impact of Physical Intelligence on Autism Spectrum Disorder”

Robert Horvitz,Ph.D., November 7, 2014
David H. Koch Professor, Department of Biology, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Title: “The Evolutionarily Conserved Protein VESA-1 Controls Synaptic and Dense-core Vesicle Maturation and Function in C. elegans and Mammals”

Feng Zhang,Ph.D., October 17, 2014
W.M. Keck Career Development Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Investigator, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Title: “Development and Applications of CRISPR-Cas9 for Genome Editing”

Noah Pestana, M.S., September 26, 2014
Research Assistant, Tomaso Poggio Lab, McGovern Institute for Brain Research
Title: “Automated Mouse Behavioral Phenotyping”

Sung-Yon Kim,Ph.D., September 19, 2014
Simons Fellow, Kwanghun Chung Lab, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Title: “Rapid and quantitative immunostaining of intact biological systems”

Peter Szolovits,Ph.D., July 25, 2014
Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Head of the Clinical Decision-Making Group within the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)
Title: “Does Narrative Complement Codified Data as a Driver for Autism Research?”

Gillian Matthews,Ph.D., July 18, 2014
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Tye Lab, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Title: “Dissecting the role of the dorsal raphe dopamine system in social behavior”

Henry Lieberman,Ph.D., June 27, 2014
Principal Research Scientist, MIT Media Laboratory
Title: “Social Network Software to Assist People with Autistic Spectrum Disorders”

Philipp Stawski,Ph.D., June 13, 2014
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Ting Laboratory, MIT Department of Chemistry
Title: “Multimodal Super-Resolution Imaging of Synapses”

Mark Bear,Ph.D., May 23, 2014
Picower Professor of Neuroscience, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Title: “A path from genes to treatments for Fragile X syndrome”

Laura Schulz,Ph.D., May 9, 2014
Class of 1943 Career Development Associate Professor of Cognitive Sciences, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: “Predicting developmental outcomes from infants’ early exploratory behaviors”

Yang Zhou,Ph.D., April 11, 2014
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Feng Lab, McGovern Institute for Brain Research
Title: “A Tale of two Shank3 Mutations”

Boaz Barak,Ph.D., March 14, 2014
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Feng Lab, McGovern Institute for Brain Research
Title: “Dissecting the hyper-sociability behavior in mouse model for Williams syndrome”

Katie Harris,Ph.D., February 28, 2014
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Littleton Lab, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Title: “Characterization of Drosophila Shank

Romy Wichmann,Ph.D., February 14, 2014
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Tye Lab, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Title: “Dissecting the neural circuits underlying social interactions”

Yea Jin Kaeser-Woo, Ph.D., January 24, 2014
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Tsai Lab, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Title: “Molecular tuning of Wnt signaling by the Autism-associated gene CHD8”

2013

Jill Crittenden, Ph.D., January 18, 2013
Research Scientist, Graybiel Lab
Title: “CalDAG-GEFI is Required for Cholinergic Modulation of Neuronal Activity and Repetitive Behavior

Carolyn Lacey, Ph.D., February 22, 2013
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Graybiel Lab
Title: “Synchronous Cholinergic Interneuron Activation in the Dorsolateral Striatum Temporally Resets Striatal Projection Neuron Activity Differentially in Subtypes and Compartments: A Mechanism for Promoting Shut-Down of Ongoing Repetitive Behaviors”

Abhishek Banerjee, D.Phil, March 15, 2013
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Sur Lab
Title: “Role of Interneuron Subtypes in Cortical Plasticity and Rett syndrome”

Swarna Pandian, Ph.D., April 5, 2013
Senior Research Scientist, Constantine-Paton Lab
Title: “A myosin Va neurological mutant displays synaptic deficits and autistic-like behavior”

Andrew Young, Ph.D., April 26, 2013
Postdoctoral Associate, Lin Lab
Title: “Probing a Link Between Circuit Activity and Postnatal Cortical Plasticity”

David Housman, Ph.D., May 3, 2013
Virginia & D K Ludwig Professor Cancer Research, Department of Biology
Title: “Using ips cells, RNAseq and CHIPseq to understand behavioral disorders – Huntington’s Disease, Myotonic Dystrophy and Autism”

Paul Muentener, Ph.D., May 17, 2013
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Schulz Lab
Title: “Predicting developmental outcomes from infants’ early exploratory behaviors”

Jorg Scholvin, Ph.D., June 14, 2013
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Boyden Lab, Synthetic Neurobiology Group
Title: “Three-dimensional and High-Density Microelectrode Technologies for Studying Neural Circuit Dynamics in Autistic Model Mice”

Neville Sanjana, Ph.D., June 28, 2013
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Zhang Lab, Broad Institute, and McGovern Institute
Title: “Using genome engineering to model autism in human pluripotent stem cells and neurons”

Dr. Cathy Leamey, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer, Physiology, University of Sydney &
Dr. Atomu Sawatari, PhD, Lecturer, Physiology, University of Sydney, July 12, 2013
Title: “Development of neural connectivity and function: roles of genes and experience”

Jason Fischer, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, McGovern Institute for Brain Research &
Kami Koldewyn, PhD, Postdoctoral Associate, McGovern Institute for Brain Research,  July 26, 2013
Title: “Evidence from attention, perception, and memory for the social domain specificity of autism spectrum disorder”

Phech Colatat, S.M., M.Eng., September 20, 2013
PhD Candidate, Sloan School of Management
Title: “The sociology of ASD: How social and organizational factors affect the risk of ASD diagnosis”

Nikolaos Mellios, Ph.D., October 4, 2013
Postdoctoral Fellow, Sur Lab, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Title: “A subset of microRNAs robustly upregulated  in Rett Syndrome patient-derived neurons inhibit neuronal differentiation”

Alan Jasanoff, Ph.D., October 18, 2013
Associate Professor, Department of Biological Engineering, MIT
Title: “Functional molecular imaging of brain activity”

Thomas Nieland, Ph.D., November 1, 2013
Group Leader, Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT
Title: “Functional Genomics of Neuropsychiatric Disorders”

Pawan Sinha, Ph.D., December 13, 2013
Professor of Vision and Computational Neuroscience, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Title: “The ‘magical’ world of autism: Autism as a disorder of prediction”

2012

Troy Littleton, M.D., Ph.D., December 14, 2012
Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biology, MIT
Title: “Modeling Neurological Disease in Drosophila — insights into Huntington’s Disease and Autism”

Yun Li, Ph.D., November 16, 2012
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Jaenisch Lab
Title: “Modeling Rett syndrome in genetically engineered human pluripotent stem cells”

Charlie Frogner, September 21, 2012
Ph.D. candidate, MIT, Poggio Lab
Title: “Automated Mouse Behavioral Phenotyping”

Tao Gao, Ph.D., August 16, 2012
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Tenenbaum Lab
Title: “Modeling the visual roots of social cognition: Perceiving animacy and intentionality”

Yang Zhou, Ph.D., July 19, 2012
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Feng Lab
Title: “Efficient gene editing with TALE nuclease, a sample application in generating autism mouse model”

Ester Kwon, Ph.D., June 28, 2012
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Tsai Lab
Title: “Investigating the role of miR-137 in the pathogenesis of autism and schizophrenia”

Ikue Nagakura, Ph.D., May 17, 2012
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Sur Lab
Title: “Novel role of STAT1 immune signaling in cortical plasticity and autism”

Michael Wells, April 19, 2012
PhD candidate, MIT, Visiting Scholar, Duke University, Feng Lab
Title: “The potential role of sonic hedgehog signaling in autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disability”

Daniel D. Dilks, Ph.D., March 15, 2012
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Kanwisher Lab
Title: “The development of face recognition”

Show Ming Kwok, Ph.D., February 16, 2012
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Sur Lab
Title: “Patient specific iPSC model of Rett syndrome”

Froylan Calderon de Anda, Ph.D., January 19, 2012
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Tsai Lab
Title: “An Autism Spectrum Disorder Susceptibility Gene, TAO2, is Important for Basal Dendrite Formation in the Neocortex”