Jason P. Weick, PhD

Jason P. Weick is an assistant professor in the department of neurosciences at the University of New Mexico (UNM) School of Medicine, where research in the Weick Lab centers on understanding multiple aspects of the development of functional neural circuits. Using neurons differentiated from pluripotent stem cells, the lab studies development under normal conditions and in the context of developmental disorders. It recently identified NSG2, an uncharacterized protein strongly upregulated as neuroepithelial cells differentiate to post-mitotic neurons, but subsequently downregulated in adults. The lab also identified an abnormal pattern of activity in in vitro cultures of neurons that carry trisomy 21, the underlying cause of Down Syndrome. Current investigations seek to understand the molecular cause of this abnormality, as well as the effects of ethanol on developing neurons during early stages of synapse formation.