Melanie Samuel, Ph.D.
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Melanie Samuel, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Positions
- Associate Professor
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Department of Neuroscience, Huffington Center on Aging
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX US
- CPRIT Scholar
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Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas
- Member
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Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States
Education
- PhD from Washington University School of Medicine
- St. Louis, Missouri United States
- Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard
- Cambridge, Massachusetts United States
- BS from the University of Idaho
- Moscow, Idaho United States
- Summa Cum Laude, Biochemistry and Microbiology
- BA from the University of Idaho
- Moscow, United States
- Summa Cum Laude, English
Professional Interests
- Discovery of new neural development molecules and pathways.
- Development of nanoscopic imaging tools and techniques for circuit analysis.
- Novel genetic models of human neural diseases
- Computational approaches to circuit mapping.
Professional Statement
The Samuel Lab seeks to tackle a central question: what make humans resilient to challenges? To solve this mystery, we focus on the nervous system because it gives rise to our individuality and underlies all of our thoughts and behavior. These abilities arise from startlingly diverse populations of cells called neurons and glia. Each of these cell types must form and connect properly in order for the brain to function. But often these processes fail, resulting in neural disease. We aim to decipher the genes and molecules that control neural fate, connectivity, and resiliency in the hope that we can one day manipulate them to prevent, or even reverse, neural disease.Websites
Selected Publications
- Sarin S. Zuniga-Sanchez E, Kurmangaliyev Y, Cousins H, Patel M, Hernandez J, Zhang K, Morey M, Samuel MA, Sanes M1*, Zipursky LS. "Role for Wnt Signaling in Retinal Neuropil Development: Analysis via RNA-Seq and In Vivo Somatic CRISPR Mutagenesis.." Neuron. 2018 Mar 22;98(1):109-126.E8. Pubmed PMID: 29576390
- Samuel MA, Voinescu PE, Lilley BN, de Cabo R, Foretz M, Viollet B, Pawlyk B, Sandberg MA, Vavvas DG, Sanes JR. "LKB1 and AMPK regulate synaptic remodeling in old age.." Nat Neurosci. 2014 Sep 17;17:1190-1197. Pubmed PMID: 25086610
- Albrecht NE, Alevy J, Jiang D, Burger CA, Liu BI, Li F, Wang J, Kim SY, Hsu CW, Kalaga S, Udensi U, Asomugha C, Bohat R, Gaspero A, Justice MJ, Westenskow PD, Yamamoto S, Seavitt JR, Beaudet AL, Dickinson ME, Samuel MA. "Rapid and Integrative Discovery of Retina Regulatory Molecules." Cell Reports. 2018 Aug 28;24(9):2506-2519. Pubmed PMID: 30157441
- Alevy J, Burger CA, Albrecht NE, Jiang D, Samuel MA. "Progressive myoclonic epilepsy-associated gene Kctd7 regulates retinal neurovascular patterning and function.." Neurochem Int.. 2019 Oct;129 Pubmed PMID: 31175897
- Greer P, Samuel MA. "Becoming a Principal Investigator: Designing and Navigating Your Academic Adventure." Neuron. 2019 Sep 25;103(6):959-963. Pubmed PMID: 31557459
- Jiang D, Burger CA, Casasent A, Albrecht NE, Li F, Samuel MA. "Spatiotemporal Gene Expression Patterns Reveal Molecular Relatedness Between Retinal Laminae." J Comp Neuro.. 2019 Oct 31;528(5):729-755. Pubmed PMID: 31609468
- Li F, Jiang D, Samuel, MA. "Microglia in the Developing Retina." Neural Development.. 2019 Dec 30;14(1):12. Pubmed PMID: 31888774
- Burger CA, Jiang D, Li F, Samuel MA. "C1q Regulates Horizontal Cell Neurite Confinement in the Outer Retina." Frontiers in Neural Circuits. 2020 Oct 16;14:64. Pubmed PMID: 33177995
- Burger CA, Alevy J, Casasent AK, Jiang D, Albrecht NE, Liang JH, Hirano AA, Brecha NC, Samuel MA. "LKB1 coordinates neurite remodeling to drive synapse layer emergence in the outer retina." Elife. 2020 May 7; Pubmed PMID: 32378514
- Burger CA, Albrecht NE, Jiang D, Liang JH, Poche RA, Samuel MA. "LKB1 and AMPK instruct cone nuclear position to modify visual function." Cell Reports. 2021 Feb 2;34(5) Pubmed PMID: 33535040
- Burger CA, Jiang D, Mackin RD, Samuel MA. "Development and Maintenance of Vision’s First Synapse." Developmental Biology. 2021 Apr 10;476:218-239. Pubmed PMID: 33848537
- D'Souza SP, Swygart DI, Wienbar SR, Upton BA, Zhang KX, Mackin RD, Casasent AK, Samuel MA, Schwartz GW, Lang RA "Retinal patterns and the cellular repertoire of neuropsin (Opn5) retinal ganglion cells." J Comp Neurol. 2021 Nov 7; Pubmed PMID: 34743323
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