Nurit Ballas, Ph.D.

My area of expertise is centered on regulation of gene expression by specific transcription factors during brain development and the implications of their loss on brain function and manifestation of neurological disorders. Currently, my lab focuses on the mechanism that underlies Rett syndrome (RTT), a progressive neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in the MECP2 gene. We examine the cellular and molecular mechanism(s) by which the loss of the MeCP2 manifests as neurological symptoms and the non-cell autonomous effect of glia in manifestation and rescue of RTT.  Our studies have used different mouse models for RTT, and in the past four years, we have also established human pluripotent stem cell lines bearing RTT-causing mutations in MECP2 to generate human models for RTT brain development.

Research Associate Professor

Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Stony Brook, NY 11794-5215
Tel.: 631-632-1572
Fax: 631-632-8575
nurit.ballas@stonybrook.edu