The field of developmental neurobiology is one of most rapidly expanding branches of life sciences in the last and in the forthcoming decade. The field of developmental neurobiology or neurophysiology investigates how the basic circuitry of the nervous system is put together and how this circuitry changes as the animal develops and ages. The research in this field covers a wide spectrum of model organisms ranging from C.elegans, Drosophila, zebrafish, mice, rats, and chickens. Neuroscience research is a strength at UBC and the field of developmental neurobiology has with recent hirings become a strong cluster within the neuroscience community. The advent of genomic data from C. elegans and Drosophila followed closely by the human, mouse, fugu, and zebrafish genomes in the next few years represents an incredible opportunity to study the development and physiology of all animals and in particular their nervous systems. This is due to the levels of conservation of these developmental pathways, such that the proteins (and genes) involved in C.elegans, Drosophila and zebrafish development are identical to those used in mammalian (including human) development. Therefore we can take advantage of simple and experimentally amenable systems to understand the underlying principles of nervous system development and apply this knowledge. By understanding how the nervous system wiring develops and how this circuitry changes during development and aging, we will be able to understand the underlying mechanisms behind a wide range of diseases. These include Parkinson’s, neural trauma and spinal cord injury, Alzheimer’s, and stroke to name a few.
This appointment in Zoology would have direct links to other researchers across campus. In particular this position would become an active member of the Cell Biology Unit, CORD and the Neuroscience program. There exists a strong and young group of developmental neurobiology researchers on campus who use a variety of model organisms to investigate the mechanisms that underlie nervous system development. This group includes Dr. Jane Roskams (CMMT), Dr. Tim O'Connor (Anatomy), Dr. Wolfram Tetzlaff (Zoology/CORD) and Dr. Vanessa Auld (Zoology). This group is cross disciplinary, integrates scientists across faculties and represents an exciting and expanding field of research. Each member of this group shares collaborations, graduate students and journal clubs. As well each group maintains significant international collaborations with other researchers in the U.S., Germany, England, Japan, and Israel. The neural developmental position would also complement many other members of the Cell Biology Unit at UBC including researchers working on cell signaling in the departments of Zoology, Microbiology/Immunology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology and the Biomedical Research Center. Other members of the Cell Biology Unit who work in the field of developmental biology that would benefit from this position include members from Botany, Agriculture, Dentistry, and Anatomy.