Welcome
Welcome to the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The goal of our research is to understand how thyroid hormone affects brain development and to clearly delineate the consequences of thyroid dysfunction that occurs during development.
Focus
Our specific focus is on the prenatal brain - a time of great importance to the development of the cerebral cortex and a time when the fetus cannot produce its own thyroid hormone. Therefore, any factor that affects maternal thyroid function, or thyroid hormone action, can potentially influence early brain development. Within out current projects we are investigating the effects of potential thyroid disrupters including PCBs, bisphenol A, and perchlorate, on thyroid hormone signaling in the developing brain.