Post Doctoral Associate

Picower Institute for Learning and Memory

Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)

Weifeng Xu

Molecular Mechanisms of Synaptic Plasticity

The primary goal of my research is to uncover the molecular mechanisms responsible for reliable synaptic communication and plasticity, and how dysregulation of these mechanisms leads to neurological disease. Currently, I am using a novel molecular replacement system combined with classical electrophysiological techniques to investigate proteins thought to be essential for synaptic transmission. As a Ph.D. student I trained with Dr. Elias Aizenman at The University of Pittsburgh, developing a detailed understanding of ion channel physiology and molecular signaling cascades leading to neuronal death and dysfunction. Since I joined Weifeng Xu’s lab at MIT January 2010, I have established a research project that incorporates my expertise in electrophysiology and knowledge of molecular signaling mechanisms to study how critical postsynaptic scaffolding proteins direct signal transduction, and how this leads to effective synaptic transmission and plasticity.