Goldman Lab Key Personnel

Steve Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., Center Director

Edward A. and Alma Vollertsen Rykenboer Chair in Neurophysiology
Department of Neurology
Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery

Research Focus:
Identify the expression patterns of the major categories of stem and progenitor cells of the adult human brain and to use that information to define the signaling pathways that distinguish one progenitor from another, as well as those that distinguish brain tumor stem and progenitor cells from their normal counterparts.

Romane Auvergne, Ph.D.

Instructor of Neurology

Research Focus:

Dr. Auvergne studies the genes and signaling pathways dysregulated in glial tumor stem and progenitor cells, with an emphasis on defining what differentiates these cells from the normal progenitors from which they derive. Her goal is to develop pathway-specific, tumor precursor -targeted therapies in glioma.

Abdellatif Benraiss, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery

Research Focus:

Dr. Benraiss’ work focuses on the use of gene therapeutic strategies to induce and regulate neurogenesis from endogenous neural stem cells in the adult mammalian brain, with a particular emphasis on developing this as a therapeutic strategy in Huntington's disease.

Devin Chandler-Militello, MA

Senior Technical Associate

Research Focus:
Devin studies the heterogeneity of human neural stem and progenitor cells, using FACS-based isolation and gene expression analysis, with the goal of efficiently directing neural stem cells to desired lineages. Working with Dr. Gang Lu, she has also developed the use of telomerase-immortalized lines of neural progenitor cells, as tools for cell therapy.

Su Wang, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Neurology

Research Focus:

Dr. Wang studies the differentiation of human striatal neural progenitor cells into medium spiny neurons, and the additional changes in their gene expression that accompany their expression of mutant Huntington protein. His goal is to identify targets for intervention in Huntington’s Disease.

Working together with Dr. Windrem, Dr. Wang also studies the oligodendrocytic differentiation of human glial progenitor cells, as derived from pluripotential stem cells, for the purpose of establishing iPS and ES cell-based sources of oligodendrocyte progenitors for cell therapy.

Martha S. Windrem, Ph.D.

Research Assistant Professor - Department of Neurology

Research Focus:

Martha Windrem studies the use of glial progenitor cells for treating disorders of myelin, in both pediatric and adult animal models of myelin disease. She also studies the biology of human astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in vivo, in chimeric brain models that permit the assessment of human cells in vivo, in rodent models of neurological disease

Zhuoxun Chen

Graduate Student in Neuroscience

Research Focus:

Zhuoxun’s work focuses on identifying and characterizing those molecular pathways that serve to link testosterone-induced angiogenesis and neurogenesis. His work focuses on the adult songbird forebrain, a uniquely powerful model for assessing the molecular mechanisms of induced angiogenesis and neurogenesis in the adult vertebrate brain.

Crystal McClain

Graduate Student in Neuroscience

Research Focus:

Crystal studies the signaling pathways of both fetal and adult glial progenitor cells, and the molecular bases for the fate decisions that determine whether progenitors become oligodendrocytes or astrocytes, a key determinant of both remyelination and gliosis after injury.