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View Printer Friendly           Home | Research | Fellowship and Award Opportunities | Suzanne Tharin, MD

NREF/Kyphon Research Fellow Suzanne Tharin, MD Harvard Medical School Cellular and Molecular Controls over Corticospinal Motor Neuron Segmental Specificity of Axon Targeting. Corticospinal motor neurons (CSMN) are the brain component of the 2-neuron circuitry (along with spinal motor neurons) controlling the most precise voluntary movement. Understanding their development could contribute to future therapies for spinal cord injury. The goal of my research is to investigate CSMN axon targeting to cervical vs. lumbar spinal cord. In Dr. Jeffrey Macklis' lab, I will purify immature, cervical- and lumbar- projecting murine CSMN using retrograde labeling and fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS), and investigate their axon targeting choices in coculture with spinal cord explants and with set of potential control molecules identified in Dr. Macklis' lab.