Modeling SHANK2 Related Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Mice

Andrea Pappas is a 7th year graduate student in the Department of Neurobiology. She is interested in the organization and signaling pathways in the postsynaptic density (PSD). Her project focuses on Shank2 which is a synaptic scaffolding protein organizing a cytoskeletal and signaling complex at the PSD of nearly all excitatory synapses in brain. SHANK2 has been recently identified as a strong causative gene in ASD based on genetic studies.