Members | The Dasen Lab

Jeremy S. Dasen, Principal Investigator

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Jeremy has had long-standing interest in the genetic and developmental programs involved in the assembly of neural circuits. He did his PhD work with Geoff Rosenfeld at UCSD, where he studied the gene regulatory networks involved in cell fate specification in the neuroendocrine system. As a postdoc with Tom Jessell at Columbia University, he studied the role of Hox transcription factors in generating neuronal diversity within the vertebrate spinal cord. His laboratory is interested in how genetic programs contribute the assembly and function of neural circuits that control movement.

Jeremy joined the Department of Neuroscience and Physiology at the NYU School of Medicine in 2006 and was promoted to Professor in 2019. He is the Program Director for the NYU Neuroscience T32 Training Program in Integrative Approaches to Explore Cellular Interactions in Neural Circuits. He is also the course director for the Advanced Topics in Molecular Neurobiology Course, required for all entering molecular-track NYU Neuroscience students, as well as the Assembly and Function of Neural Circuits course, designed for advanced students with an interest in molecular approaches to study neural circuits. Jeremy also participates in teaching and recruitment for the Medical Sciences Training Program (MSTP), Developmental Genetics Program, and Stem Cell Biology Program.

Jeremy was a recipient of a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award in Biomedical Sciences, Sloan Research Fellowship, McKnight Scholar Award, and was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientist.

Sara J. Fenstermacher, Postdoctoral Fellow

Sara Fenstermacher received her B.A. from Bucknell University and Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard University. Working with Dr. Rosalind Segal, she studied how neurotrophins promote axon viability through regulation of mRNA localization and translation in axons. She then started a postdoc with Dr. Tom Jessell at Columbia University before moving to NYU to continue her research with Dr. Jeremy Dasen. Sara is interested in the development and function of neural circuits that coordinate movement. Her current work seeks to understand how the serotonergic system modulates spinal cord circuits to allow for flexible motor control. Sara is a recipient of the K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from NINDS and was previously a Junior Fellow in the Simons Foundation Society of Fellows.

Outside of the lab she enjoys yoga and cycling, attending music and arts performances, and watching sports.

Alex Adams,
Postdoctoral Fellow

Alex Adams received their B.S. and M.S. in biomedical engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology under the advisement of Dr. Bryan Pfister, and their Ph.D. with Dr. Haesun Kim from Rutgers University—Newark. Their undergraduate and masters research was focused on the effects of in vitro injury on isolated cortical and dorsal root ganglia neurons. During their doctoral studies, Alex studied the molecular mechanisms involved in damage to myelin after mild traumatic brain injury in mice. In the Dasen lab, Alex is interested in elucidating how axial motor neurons that innervate muscle in the trunk and back acquire subtype specific molecular and functional identities during development, and how these identities relate to the functional outputs of axial motor circuits.

Outside of the lab, Alex enjoys gardening, hiking, cooking, and their editorial work for Science for the People magazine, where they have been the managing editor since the spring of 2021.

Alexander Miller,

Graduate Student

Alex is a native of Oregon where he completed his undergraduate degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry at University of Oregon. During his undergraduate, Alex earned departmental honors from his work identifying genes necessary for elongation in C. elegans.

Alex’s current work investigates the role of chromatin modifications in neurogenesis. Chromatin modifications – mediated through the activity of Polycomb group proteins – have been implicated in a range of biological processes, from sex-determination to cancer progression. Alex is interested how these PcG-mediated chromatin modifications are involved in the differentiation of motor neurons. What are the mechanisms behind gene regulation and maintenance of developmental genes? When are these PcG-proteins necessary for their regulatory role during neurodevelopment? How do PcG-protein interactions change during motor neuron differentiation? To address these questions, Alex is utilizing chick, mouse, and cell culture models to test the necessity and functionality of PcG-proteins at various stages of neurogenesis.

Outside of lab, he enjoys hiking, rock climbing, playing music, and practicing mandarin Chinese.