Yimin Zou, "Signaling mechanisms for growth cone steering and synapse formation"

Dr. Yimin Zou is Professor of Neurobiology at UCSD. The Zou lab studies the fundamental molecular signaling and cellular mechanisms of axon guidance and synapse formation and how disruption of these normal processes may lead to developmental disorders, such as autism. They also study how neural circuits respond to and recover from traumatic injury, in the hope to promote their repair and return of function. Zou pioneered the finding that Wnt family proteins provide key directional information along the major axes of the nervous system for axon pathfinding and topographic projections.