Anju Vasudevan
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Director, Angiogenesis and Brain Development Laboratory
McLean Hospital
My laboratory explores the developmental origins and mechanisms of neuropsychiatric illness. We study key events during brain development - angiogenesis, neurogenesis and neuronal migration and the way these shape postnatal and adult behaviors. We combine genetic tools with cellular, molecular and behavioral approaches to characterize the mechanisms that define cerebral cortex organization and its alterations and long-term impact in disease models. We delineate novel aspects of neurovascular interactions that can be tapped into for rescue, repair and regeneration. Our work has implications for understanding and treatment of neuropsychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia, epilepsy, autism and depression.