Anne C. Hart, Ph.D. will discuss two different projects. In the first, she uses the nematode C. elegans to understand molecular and genetic pathways that are important in sleep. She uses classical genetics in C. elegans and epigenetic studies in humans to identify genes that play conserved roles in sleep.

In the second part of the talk, Dr. Hart will discuss some of her lab’s work on neurodegenerative disease. Her lab has created knock-in models of ALS in C. elegans by inserting patient amino acid changes into the C. elegans genome using new genome editing techniques. The consequences on neuronal activity and survival are dramatically different from previously described over-expression models.

Dr. Hart is a Professor of Neuroscience at Brown University.