Nicholas Tran

Assistant Professor

Email

nicholas.tran@bcm.edu

Positions

Assistant Professor: Mol. & Human Gen.
Baylor College of Medicine

Education

PhD from Washington University in St Louis: 12/2013 - St Louis, Missouri, United States; Molecular Genetics and Genomics

BS from University of Virginia: 05/2007 - Charlottesville, Virginia, United States; Biology

Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard University: 05/2021 - Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Professional Statement

The brain is composed of a remarkably diverse set of neuronal cell types that each play a specific role in supporting brain function. When CNS tissues are damaged by injury or disease, this complex machine becomes dysfunctional, often with limited potential for recovery. A curious phenomenon is that in essentially all neurodegenerative conditions, certain cell types are more affected than others. My lab focuses on understanding what happens to different neuronal populations in neurodegenerative conditions using cutting edge single-cell genomic approaches. Our model of choice is the retina, the most accessible part of the brain, which we use both to study blinding disorders like glaucoma and to study basic mechanisms of degeneration. Our ultimate mission is to identify better targets for therapies that protect neurons from degeneration and stimulate axon regeneration.

The Tran lab is recruiting! Currently, we are accepting applications for the following positions:

Postdoctoral fellowship: https://jobs.bcm.edu/job/Houston-Postdoctoral-Associate-Texa/769208000/

Research Technicians:
https://jobs.bcm.edu/job/Houston-Research-Technician-II-Texa/769227900/

Please contact Dr. Tran if you would like any additional information regarding these positions.

Selected Publications

Shekhar K, Lapan SW, Whitney IE, Tran NM, Macosko EZ, Kowalczyk M, Adiconis X, Levin JZ, Nemesh J, Goldman M, McCarroll SA, Cepko CL, Regev A, Sanes JR. " Comprehensive Classification of Retinal Bipolar Neurons by Single-Cell Transcriptomics " Cell. 2016 Aug 25; 166 (5) : 1308-1323.
Pubmed PMID: 27565351.
Yan W, Laboulaye MA, Tran NM, Whitney IE, Benhar I, Sanes JR. " Mouse Retinal Cell Atlas: Molecular Identification of over Sixty Amacrine Cell Types " Neurosci.. 2020 Jul 1; 40 (27) : 5177-5195.
Pubmed PMID: 32457074.
Lindborg JA, Tran NM, Chenette DM, DeLuca K, Foli Y, Kannan R, Sekine Y, Wang X, Wollan M, Kim IJ, Sanes JR, Strittmatter SM. " Optic nerve regeneration screen identifies multiple genes restricting adult neural repair " Cell Rep.. 2021 Mar 2; 34 (9) : 108777.
Pubmed PMID: 33657370.
Peng YR, Tran NM, Krishnaswamy A, Kostadinov D, Martersteck EM, Sanes JR. " Satb1 Regulates Contactin 5 to Pattern Dendrites of a Mammalian Retinal Ganglion Cell " Neuron. 2017 Aug 16; 95 (4) : 869-883.
Pubmed PMID: 28781169.
Norsworthy MW, Bei F, Kawaguchi R, Wang Q, Tran NM, Li Y, Brommer B, Zhang Y, Wang C, Sanes JR, Coppola G, He Z. " Sox11 Expression Promotes Regeneration of Some Retinal Ganglion Cell Types but Kills Others " Neuron. 2017 Jun 21; 94 (6) : 1112-1120.
Pubmed PMID: 28641110.
Tran NM, Shekhar K, Whitney IE, Jacobi A, Benhar I, Hong G, Yan W, Adiconis X, Arnold ME, Lee JM, Levin JZ, Lin D, Wang C, Lieber CM, Regev A, He Z, Sanes JR. " Single-Cell Profiles of Retinal Ganglion Cells Differing in Resilience to Injury Reveal Neuroprotective Genes " Neuron. 2019 Dec 18; 18 (104) : 1039-1055.
Pubmed PMID: 31784286.
Jacobi* A, Tran* NM, Yan* W, Benhar I, Tian F, Schaffer R, He Z, Sanes JR. " Overlapping transcriptional programs promote survival and axonal regeneration of injured retinal ganglion cells " Neuron. 2022 Aug ;
Pubmed PMID: 35767994.

Memberships

ARVO: member

SfN: member

Funding

R00: (09/06/2021 - 09/05/2024); NIH

Mission Connect Seed Funding Grant: (08/17/2022 - 08/16/2024); TIRR Foundation

Research Grant: (10/01/2022 - 09/30/2025); Whitehall Foundation

Junior Faculty Seed Grant: (07/01/2022 - 06/30/2023); Levy-Longenbaugh Foundation