Academic Appointments
- Professor of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics
- Professor of Neuroscience
Current Administrative Positions
- Co-Director, Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior

Dendrites and axons show extraordinarily diverse forms and modes of patterning, with important implications for nervous system wiring and neuronal function. Our lab is interested in how neurons acquire their type-specific morphology and organization and how this organization underlies circuit function. To approach this problem, we use molecular, genetic, anatomical, and behavioral approaches to identify the mechanisms that sculpt somatosensory circuits during development.
Using the fruit flyDrosophilawe can dissect the mechanisms of nervous system patterning and function with cell type specificity. For example we identified the mechanisms that allow branches from the same cell to spread from each other to cover their appropriate territory, a basic feature of most or all neuronal arbors. This process of “self-avoidance” is controlled by the highly diversified homophilic immunoglobulin superfamily member Dscam1. We also showed that repulsion is also enforced by integrin receptors for the extracellular matrix.
Current interests in the lab include 1) identification of interneuron populations that transmit somatosensory information and the contribution of these neurons to behavior (see Burgos et al., 2018), 2) the mechanisms that underlie specific connectivity between primary sensory neurons and target interneurons, 3) cell-extrinsic cues that mediate targeting and morphogenesis of both dendrites and axons, and 4) imaging neuronal activity and behavior in intact Drosophila larvae to shed light on neural circuit function, in collaboration with the Hillman lab at the Zuckerman Institute (see Vaadia & Li, et al., 2019).
Departments and Divisions
- Department of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics
- Department of Neuroscience
Education and Training
- BS, 1993 Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine
- PhD, 2000 Zoology, University of Washington
- 2005 Postdoc, University of California, San Francisco
Links
Lab Locations
Jerome L. Greene Science Center
3227 Broadway
L9-006
New York, NY 10027- Phone:
- (212) 853-1024
- Fax:
- (212) 305-5775
- Email:
- wg2135@columbia.edu
Teaching Responsibilities
- Intro to Neural Development
Research Interests
- Axon Pathfinding and Synaptogenesis
- Cell Specification and Differentiation
- Neural Degeneration and Repair
- Synapses and Circuits
NIH Grants
NEUROBIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR RESEARCH TRAINING GRANT (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 1997 - Apr 30 2019
ALTERNATIVE SPLICING OF DSCAM2 IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOCICEPTIVE CIRCUITRY IN DROSOPHILA (Federal Gov)
Sep 1 2016 - Feb 28 2019
ALTERNATIVE SPLICING OF DSCAM2 IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOCICEPTIVE CIRCUITRY IN DROSOPHILA (Federal Gov)
Sep 1 2016 - Aug 31 2018
NEUROBIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR RESEARCH TRAINING GRANT (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 1997 - Apr 30 2018
DENDRITIC PATTERNING BY INTERACTING (Federal Gov)
Apr 1 2008 - Mar 31 2018
DENDRITIC PATTERNING BY INTERACTING (Federal Gov)
Apr 1 2008 - Mar 31 2018
DENDRITIC PATTERNING BY INTERACTING (Federal Gov)
Apr 1 2008 - Mar 31 2018
DISSECTION OF NEURAL CIRCUITRY UNDERLYING NOCICEPTION IN DROSOPHILA LARVAE (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 2014 - Aug 31 2017
DISSECTION OF NEURAL CIRCUITRY UNDERLYING NOCICEPTION IN DROSOPHILA LARVAE (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 2014 - Aug 31 2017
DISSECTION OF NEURAL CIRCUITRY UNDERLYING NOCICEPTION IN DROSOPHILA LARVAE (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 2014 - Aug 31 2017
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER SKIN DISEASE RESEARCH CENTER (CUMCSDRC) (Federal Gov)
Jul 20 1997 - Jun 30 2017
DISSECTING THE ROLE OF INTEGRINS IN LONG-TERM STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL CIRCUIT MAINTENANCE IN AGING NEURONS (Private)
Jul 1 2014 - Jun 30 2016
A VERSATILE SYSTEM FOR CELL-SPECIFIC GENE EXPRESSION CONTROL IN THE FLY BRAIN (Federal Gov)
Mar 1 2014 - Feb 28 2015
TRANSCRIPTIONAL CONTROL OF DENDRITIC MORPHOLOGICAL DIVERSITY (Private)
Jan 1 2008 - Dec 31 2012
DENDRITIC FIELD PATTERNING BY COMBINED ATTRACTIVE AND REPULS IVE CUES (Private)
Jul 1 2008 - Jun 30 2012
IDENTIFICATION OF MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF DENDRITE MORPHOGEN ESIS (Private)
Jul 1 2007 - Jun 30 2011
MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF DENDRITE GUIDNACE AND TARGETING (Private)
Jul 1 2007 - Jun 30 2011
Lab Members
- Aisha Saleem, Undergraduate
- Amena Khair-Eldin, Undergraduate
- Patricia Cooney, Graduate Student
- Shan Lu, Graduate Student
- Grace Shin, Associate Research Scientist
- Samantha Shi, Lab technician
- Rafael Cohn, Postdoc
Publications
For a complete list of publications, please visit PubMed.gov