Prof. Oren Schuldiner

Our lab studies the molecular mechanisms that regulate, control and execute developmental neuronal remodelling in Drosophila. Remodelling is essential for sculpting the mature nervous systems of both vertebrates and invertebrates during development and when it is perturbed, we think it is a major cause of psychoneurological conditions such as schizophrenia and autism.
We use Drosophila as a model system to study pruning and regrowth during remodelling and our main approach is developmental genetics. The stereotypy of remodeling in Drosophila as well as the wide range of genetic tools available, make it a unique system to dissect the mechanisms of neuronal remodeling in vivo.