Summer Thyme, Ph.D.

Research

The Thyme lab is developing new methods for dissecting the genetic underpinnings of neurodevelopmental disease. With thousands of mutations discovered to be linked to disorders such as schizophrenia, it has become clear that traditional approaches to studying one gene at a time will not provide sufficient insights into how these genetic changes alter the structure and activity of the brain during development and into adulthood. As a postdoctoral fellow, I generated mutations in more than 100 schizophrenia-associated genes in zebrafish, and identified dozens of changes that impair the neural development and behavior of these organisms. Now, using a combination of bioengineering, molecular genetics, imaging, and genomic analyses, my lab will continue to refine the tools that will allow us to analyze how these genes interact to affect the trajectory of neural development—in different cell types, different brain regions, and at different stages in development. We will also streamline strategies for rapidly discovering or engineering drugs that target these mutant genes, work that could lead to new approaches for ameliorating or preventing neurodevelopmental disease.