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1st appeared
1 November
1999 Rubenstein Named Endowed Chair in Child Psychiatry
Rubenstein uses genetic methods to study how the various parts of the forebrain are formed and how specific types of neurons are generated within these regions. The forebrain is the region of the brain that contains the cerebral cortex and carries out most of the higher thought processes such as memory and reasoning. "The forebrain is the seat of consciousness, thought, movement, speech, and emotion, but we still know very little about it," says Rubenstein. "If we can unravel how neurons organize themselves in the right areas at the right times, we can potentially understand what goes awry to cause certain mental disorders like autism." Having identified several novel genes that are candidates for regulating forebrain development, Rubenstein hopes to apply his findings to understanding mental disorders, many of which are caused, in part, by genetic mechanisms. Rubenstein came to UCSF in 1991 after training at Stanford University and the Pasteur Institute in France. He is the first recipient of the new endowed chair. Source: Rebecca Sladek-Nowlis
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DAYBREAK | ARCHIVES | CALENDAR
| CAMPUS NOTES Copyright ©1999 Regents
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John
Rubenstein, a UCSF professor of psychiatry, was recently appointed to
the Nina Ireland Endowed Chair in Child Psychiatry, which will allow
him to continue his quest to understand better the genetic and developmental
mechanisms
that underlie mental disorders.