Faculty Investigator Andrew Kodani, PhD, focuses his research efforts on understanding the fundamental basis of brain development and neurodevelopmental diseases. His lab studies how mutations in critical developmental genes lead to catastrophic pediatric neurodevelopmental diseases.
They work with clinicians nationwide to identify disease-causing genetic mutations in individuals with rare neurological conditions. Then, they explore the cellular and molecular biology of those mutations to understand the developmental mechanisms that are disrupted in the brain in an effort to develop quality-of-life treatments for affected individuals.
A major goal of the Kodani lab is to understand the developmental mechanisms that are disrupted in rare neurological diseases in an effort to develop quality-of-life treatments for affected individuals.
The lab is currently trying to answer the following questions:
How do neural stem cell expansion and neuronal differentiation control brain size and organization?
How do gene expression and epigenetics control developmental signaling pathways critical for brain and body development?
2010 – PhD in Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine
2005 – BS in Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of California, Berkeley
2024-Present – Faculty Investigator, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology
2021-2024 – Assistant Member, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
2016-2020 – Instructor, Harvard Medical School
2017-2020 – Charles Hood Foundation Award
2018-2019 – Hearst Foundation Award
