Dr. Shai Shaham | Shaham Lab

Bio:
Glial cells are major components of nervous systems, and are in a position to influence nearly every
step of neural information transfer and processing. To understand if and how glia control nervous system
functions, the Shaham lab developed the nematode C. elegans as a unique setting to probe glia-neuron
interactions; demonstrating that glia in this animal can be interrogated without perturbing neuronal viabilityan
important experimental advantage. Using molecular, cell-biological, and physiological tools, developed in part by the Shaham lab group, the lab identified multiple mechanisms by which glia influence nervous system development and function. The Shaham lab showed that the four CEPsh glia of C. elegans are astrocyte-like glia that play central roles in modulating locomotory behavior. The Shaham lab also investigated glia that ensheath sensory-neuron receptive endings, and identified novel signaling interactions with these neurons that control an animal’s response to environmental stimuli. Dr. Shaham will describe recent published and unpublished findings that support the notion that glia play active and critical roles in defining behaviorally consequential activity set points in the nervous system. The lab hypothesizes that many of the rules we describe are conserved across animals, and Dr. Shaham will discuss evidence that
supports this idea.

Shai Shaham received his A.B. degree in biochemistry from Columbia University in 1989. In 1995, he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Ph.D. in biology. After postdoctoral studies at the University of California, San Francisco, Shaham joined Rockefeller as assistant professor in 2001. He was named associate professor in 2007 and professor in 2012. Shaham was named a Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research Scholar and a Rita Allen Foundation Scholar. He has received an Irma T. Hirschl/Monique Weill-Caulier Trust Research Award, a Masin Young Investigator Award from the Breast Cancer Alliance, a Klingenstein Fellowship, The Rockefeller University Distinguished Teaching Award, a Blavatnik Award, and a NINDS Outstanding Investigator Award.

Abstract:
Glial cells are major components of nervous systems and are in a position to influence nearly every step of neural information transfer and processing. To understand if and how glia control nervous system functions, we developed the nematode C. elegans as a unique setting to probe glia-neuron interactions; demonstrating that glia in this animal can be interrogated without perturbing neuronal viability- an important experimental advantage. Using molecular, cell-biological, and physiological tools, developed in part by our group, we identified multiple mechanisms by which glia influence nervous-system development and function. We showed that the four CEPsh glia of C. elegans are astrocyte-like glia that play central roles in modulating locomotory behavior. We also investigated glia that ensheath sensory-neuron receptive endings, and identified novel signaling interactions with these neurons that control an animal’s response to environmental stimuli. Our studies support the notion that glia play active and critical roles in defining behaviorally consequential activity set points in the nervous system. We hypothesize that many of the rules we describe are conserved across animals, and will provide evidence that supports this idea.