Neural Development

Onur Basak

Research Group

Utrecht Bioinformatics Center
Onur Basak
Basak group • Neural development
Group name: Basak Group
Research field: Neural Development
Data Integration, Epigenetics, Single Cell RNA Sequencing, Transcriptomics

Contact

Universiteitsweg 100
3584 CG
Utrecht
Department / Institute: Translational Neuroscience / UMCU
Office: 4.231
Building: Stratenum
o.basak@umcutrecht.nl
31887568810
http://www.basaklab.com

Our Research

The cellular diversity of the human brain is immense, which is generated through evolutionarily conserved developmental mechanisms. Neural stem cells (NSCs) are on top of the neural hierarchy and need to give critical cell fate choices to generate the adult brain through various cellular differentiation trajectories. My long-term ambition is to discover the molecular mechanisms regulating the function of NSCs using a holistic, systems biology approach.

The current research in my lab aims to delineate the molecular and cellular mechanisms behind cell fate decisions of NSCs and how these mechanisms fail in mutations associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A secondary goal of our lab is to determine how histone methylation contributes to the cellular heterogeneity in the adult brain, with a focus on the reward system.

We use state-of-the art single cell sequencing techniques, CRISPR-mediated gene inactivation, mouse genetics and computational tools to run multidisciplinary, collaborative projects.