Investigator
Claire
Le Pichon,
Ph.D.
Unit on the Development of Neurodegeneration
Dr. Claire Le Pichon earned her B.A. degree from Cambridge University, U.K. and her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Columbia University in 2007 in the laboratory of Dr. Stuart Firestein, where her interest in neurodegenerative disease began while studying the function of the cellular prion protein PrPC. After her Ph.D., Dr. Le Pichon joined the Translational Neuroscience group at Genentech, where she worked on preclinical drug development for multiple neurodegenerative disease pipeline targets, using mouse models of disease. She was recruited as an Investigator to the NICHD in 2016. Her laboratory employs a multidisciplinary approach including mouse genetics, wide-scale imaging of whole brain tissue, next generation sequencing, and behavior to investigate the early events underlying the onset and progression of neurodegenerative disease.
The lab is focused on understanding mechanisms of early pathophysiology in neurodegenerative disease. In particular, we aim (1) to better understand intercellular communication in neurodegeneration and its role in the spread of pathophysiology, and (2) to elucidate mechanisms that may be shared across these diseases with a particular focus neuronal stress and neuro-inflammatory pathways. To this end we employ a multidisciplinary approach capitalizing on cutting edge technologies in neuroscience, mouse genetics, and next-generation sequencing with the ultimate goal of contributing to the development of new therapies for these devastating diseases.
-
Li Chen, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
-
Caroline Donahue, B.A.
Post baccalaureate Fellow
-
Jacob Gluski, B.A.
Post baccalaureate Fellow
-
Jorge Gomez, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
-
Hanna Silberberg, M.Sc
Biologist
-
Josette Wlaschin, B.A.
Post baccalaureate Fellow
-
1) Wlaschin JJ, Gluski JM, Nguyen E, Silberberg H, Thompson JH, Chesler AT, Le Pichon CE (2018)
-
Dual leucine zipper kinase is required for mechanical allodynia and microgliosis after nerve injury
- Elife, pii: e33910. doi: 10.7554/eLife.33901
-
2) Le Pichon CE*, Meilandt WJ*, Dominguez S, Solanoy H, Lin H, Ngu H, Gogineni A, Ghosh AS, Jiang Z, Lee S, Maloney J, Gandham VD, Pozniak C, Wang B, Lee S, Siu M, Patel S, Modrusan Z, Liu X, Rudhard Y, Baca M, Gustafson A, Kaminker J, Carano RAD, Huang E, Foreman O, Weimer R, Scearce-Levie K, Lewcock J. (2017)
-
Loss of dual leucine zipper kinase signaling is protective in animal models of neurodegenerative disease
- Science Transl Med, Aug 16, 9(403)
-
3) Lee SH*, Le Pichon CE*, Adolfsson O, Gafner V, Pihlgren M, Lin H, Solanoy H, Brendza R, Ngu H, Foreman O, Chan R, Ernst J, DiCara D, Hotzel I, Srinivasan K, Hansen D, Atwal J, Pfeifer A, Watts RJ, Muhs A, Scearce-Levie K, Ayalon G. (2016)
-
Antibody-mediated targeting of tau in vivo does not require effector function or microglial engagement,
- Cell Rep, 16(6), 1690-700
-
4) Chesler AT, Szczot M, Bharucha-Goebel D, Ceko M, Donkervoort S, Laubacher C, Hotchkiss L, Alter K, Zampieri C, Stanley C, Innes AM, Mah JK, Grossmann CM, Bradley N, Nguyen D, Foley AR, Le Pichon CE, Bönnemann CG. (2016)
-
The role of PIEZO2 in human mechanosensation,
- New Engl J Med, 375(14), 1355-1364.
-
5) Le Pichon CE, Valley MT, Polymenidou M, Chesler AT, Sagdullaev B, Aguzzi A, Firestein S. (2009)
-
Olfactory behavior and physiology are disrupted in prion protein knockout mice,
- Nat Neurosci, 12(1): 60-9., *co-first authorship
View Pubmed Publication