Anita Bhattacharyya
Position title: Assistant Professor
Email: bhattacharyy@waisman.wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 265-6142
Department:
Cell and Regenerative Biology
Education:
Ph.D. in Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Postdoctoral in Growth Factor Signaling, Harvard Medical School – Dane Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
Research Description:
My research program is focused on using human pluripotent stem cells to study the early development of the nervous system in neurodevelopmental disorders, including Down syndrome and Fragile X syndrome. Down syndrome (DS), or trisomy 21, is the most common genetic cause of intellectual impairment, yet surprisingly little is known about the specific defects in neuronal development, limiting the ability to define effective treatments to improve cognition. The need for a better human paradigm and the diverse organ symptoms affected in DS provided a rationale for establishing a human pluripotent cell system and my lab was one of the first to generate trisomy 21 human pluripotent stem cells. We showed that human trisomy 21 iPSC derived dorsal forebrain neurons have deficits in oxidative stress and synaptic function (Weick et al., 2013). We are now focused on faulty interneuron development in DS and further investigation to better understand how mistakes in interneuron development may underlie intellectual disability in DS. By analyzing neural development of pluripotent cells that carry genetic mutations that are known to cause intellectual impairment, my research program aims to uncover processes that are impaired in disorders.
Research Key Words:
Stem Cells, Neural Development, Intellectual Disability, Neurodevelopmental Disorders