Organizers: Erik Herzog, Paul Taghert, and Dmitri Nusinow

The Clocks & Sleep Club became the Hope Center Clocks & Sleep Club to expand participation and promote ongoing research on the role of sleep and circadian rhythms in neurodegenerative disease. The group meets monthly to discuss recent advances in the study of biological timing and sleep.

Labs working on biological rhythms

Erik Herzog: Molecules, cells and circuits of mammalian circadian timing.

Paul Taghert: Molecules, cells and circuits of insect circadian timing.

Dmitri Nusinow: Circadian regulation of physiology and development in plants.

David Holtzman: The role of normal and disrupted daily rhythms in amyloid beta production and Alzheimer’s Disease progression and therapies.

Shin-Ichiro Imai: Epigenetics of circadian timing and aging.

Yo-El Ju: Sleep and neurological diseases.

Daniel Kerschensteiner: Neural circuits controlling circadian rhythms and sleep.

István Kiss: Coupled oscillator behavior in biological and electrochemical systems.

Brendan Lucey: Sleep and Alzheimer’s disease.

Erik Musiek: The role of clock genes and circadian rhythms in neurodegeneration.

Jeanne Nerbonne: Circadian regulation of excitability and channel biology.

Joshua Rubin: Chronotherapy for brain cancer.

Paul Shaw: Genetics and benefits of sleep.

2023/2024 Schedule

2nd Friday of the month (*unless noted)
3:30p – 5:00p
HYBRID: Farrell LTC 205 and Zoom conference (^unless noted)

There will be food, drink and conversation for those attending in-person!

For inquiries contact the Hope Center or Erik Herzog.

NOTE: Each presenter has 30 minutes for slides and 15 minutes for questions.

  • September 8: Selma Masri (University of California, Irvine) “Dissecting the role of the circadian clock in cancer”
  • October 6*
    • Linda Jiameng Sun (DeBosch lab, WashU Pediatrics) “Hepatocyte Period 1 dictates oxidative substrate selection independent of the core circadian clock”
    • Li-Feng Jiang-Xie (Kipnis lab, WashU Pathology & Immunology) “The Self-Cleansing Brain and Ontogeny of Sleep”
  • November 3
    • Maria Gonzalez (Herzog lab, WashU Biology) “Circadian rhythms and brain cancer- leveraging biological clocks to improve clinical treatment”
    • Aidan Schneider (Hengen lab, WashU Biology) “The Sleep Signature: A Disentangled State in Each Neuron”
  • December 8
    • Ashish Sharma (Musiek lab, WashU Neurology) “Jetlag and neurodegeneration: Impact of circadian desynchrony on pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease”
    • Chi Chan Lee (Kerschensteiner lab, WashU Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences) “Role and function of intergeniculate leaflet on non-image forming functions”
  • January 12
    • Amanda Cimino (Guilak lab, WashU Orthopaedic Surgery) “Synthetic gene circuits for autonomously regulated circadian-driven drug delivery to target flares in arthritis”
    • Lizzie Tilden (Y. Chen lab, WashU Neuroscience) “Temporal dynamics of Protein Kinase A across the sleep-wake cycle”

For previous years’ talks, check out the archives link below.

All meetings are listed on the ONR Calendar of the Office of Neuroscience Research.

Clocks & Sleep Club: Affiliated faculty members

Ryan Bogdan (WashU Psychological & Brain Sciences)
Daniel Castro (WashU Radiology)
Yao Chen (WashU Neuroscience)
Marco Colonna (WashU Pathology & Immunology)
Bryan Copits (WashU Anesthesiology)
Meaghan Creed (WashU Anesthesiology)
Sarah England (WashU Obstetrics & Gynecology)
Jeffrey Haspel (WashU Medicine)
Tracey Hermanstyne (WashU Developmental Biology)
Erik Herzog (WashU Biology)
David Holtzman (WashU Neurology)
Shin-Ichiro Imai (WashU Developmental Biology)
Yo-El Ju (WashU Neurology)
Daniel Kerschensteiner (WashU Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences)
Jonathan Kipnis (WashU Pathology & Immunology)
István Kiss (Saint Louis University)
Geraldine Kress (WashU Neurology)
Eric Landsness (WashU Neurology)
Amy Licis (WashU Neurology)
Brendan Lucey (WashU Neurology)
Tim Miller (WashU Neurology)
Erik Musiek (WashU Neurology)
Jeanne Nerbonne (WashU Medicine)
Aaron Norris (WashU Anesthesiology)
Dmitri Nusinow (Donald Danforth Plant Science Center)
Ben Palanca (WashU Anesthesiology)
Thomas Papouin (WashU Neuroscience)
Laura Piccio (WashU Neurology)
Joshua Rubin (WashU Pediatrics)
Paul Shaw (WashU Neuroscience)
Kendall Smith (WashU Anesthesiology)
Paul Taghert (WashU Neuroscience)
Andrew Yoo (WashU Developmental Biology)
Chao Zhou (WashU Biomedical Engineering)