The nervous system is the last frontier of the molecular revolution in medicine. The past decade has witnessed extraordinary advances in experimental tools to study the brain and spinal cord and, accordingly, impressive strides have been made in understanding how the nervous system functions under normal conditions and malfunctions in disease. We are now poised to take advantage of this growing knowledge to develop fundamentally improved diagnostic tests, treatments, and ultimately cures and preventive measures for disorders of the brain and spinal cord. The goal of the Mount Sinai Brain Institute is to play a leading role nationally and internationally in this exciting endeavor.
Research of the Mount Sinai Brain Institute will be distinguished by its multidisciplinary efforts, spanning basic molecular and genetic research of animal models of nervous system disorders through investigations of human populations in the clinic. New knowledge from animal studies will drive clinical investigations, while new insight from clinical studies will feedback and help guide more basic exploration into the underlying mechanisms involved. This uniquely broad-based approach, utilizing a wide range of state-of-the-art methodologies, will succeed by coordinating efforts across numerous departments at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, including neuroscience, neurology, psychiatry, neurosurgery, pharmacology, rehabilitative medicine, among others. The Mount Sinai Brain Institute will focus on three major areas of investigation: Neural Injury and Repair, Cognition, and Neuropsychiatry.
The Brain Institute is comprised of the following Centers of Excellence (Chiefs are given in parentheses):
Aging (Dr. Patrick Hof)
Cognition and Neural Plasticity (Drs. Cristina Alberini and Matthew Shapiro)
Computational and Systems Neuroscience (Drs. Udi Kaplan and Susan Wearne)
Mood and Motivation (Dr. Yasmin Hurd)
Myelin Disorders: Mechanisms and Repair (Dr. Patrizia Casaccia)
Neural Injury and Repair (To be Named)
Neurodegeneration (Dr. Sam Gandy)
Neurodevelopmental Disorders (Dr. Joseph Buxbaum)
Novel Approaches to Neurodiagnostics and Neurotherapeutics (Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti)
Leadership of the Brain Institute: Dr. Eric Nestler
Dr. Wayne Goodman, Dr. Patrick Hof, Dr. John Morrison, Dr. Stuart Sealfon
Chiefs of the Centers of Excellence
