Breunig Lab

Neural stem cells generate the majority of the cells in the brain. The laboratory of Joshua Breunig, PhD, the Ben Winters Chair in Regenerative Medicine, studies the molecular mechanisms that mediate the normal differentiation of these cells during development to create the appropriate mature cell types in the brain, including neurons and glia (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes). Importantly, this information can be used to engineer therapies to direct differentiation and to promote brain repair. Conversely, we also use this knowledge to understand development of brain tumors when cells are mutated, often hijacking developmental pathways for aberrant self-renewal. To this end, we have developed novel, more “personalized” genetic models—including iPSC-derived 3D human cerebral organoid models—of high-grade pediatric and adult brain tumors which we employ for therapeutic discovery and preclinical testing.