Dr. Guang Yang

The human brain is composed of billions of neurons organized into circuits for higher-order functions. These neurons arise from neural stem cells through tightly regulated temporal and spatial programs during development. Disruption in the generation of specific neuron types or numbers can lead to aberrant neural circuit formation, resulting in severe functional deficits. Our lab focuses on neural stem cells with the goal of understanding how genes regulate brain development and how genetic mutations cause rare neurodevelopmental disorders in humans. Insights from these studies can inform potential gene therapy strategies. Our research is highly collaborative and multidisciplinary, combining clinical genetics with fundamental mechanistic studies and leveraging diverse approaches, including transgenic mouse models, patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells, gene editing, cell reprogramming, and genome-wide analyses. Our current research is organized into three directions: 1. Understanding disease mechanisms underlying newly identified rare neurodevelopmental disorders. 2. Exploring RNA-based and cell-based strategies for treatment of genetic disorders. 3. Developing new technologies to facilitate research in these areas.