Michael Greenberg

Michael Greenberg, Ph.D.

Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School
Professor of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital
Director of the Hock E. Tan and K. Lisa Yang Center for Autism Research, Harvard Medical School
617-432-2510
Greenberg Lab Website

Michael Greenberg, Ph.D. – Faculty Profile

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Title: Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School; Director of the Hock E. Tan and K. Lisa Yang Center for Autism Research, Harvard Medical School; Professor of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital.

The Aim

The Greenberg Lab studies how life experiences turn genes on or off to shape learning and brain development. The lab focuses on the molecular mechanisms by which sensory experiences regulate gene expression in the brain.

The Impact

This research has illuminated how the brain rewires itself in response to experience, a process essential for learning, memory, and behavior. Several of the genes and pathways the lab has identified are mutated in autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, positioning this work as foundational for developing new therapies for these conditions.

A Closer Look

Article: State of Stasis , Harvard Medical School / Harvard Gazette, June 2020. This piece describes how Mike Greenberg and colleagues identified a tiny cluster of hypothalamic neurons that can flip mice into and out of a hibernation‑like state, or torpor, revealing brain circuits that dial down body temperature and metabolism and opening avenues for understanding suspended animation and its medical uses.

Article: Decoding Brain Evolution , Harvard Medical School, December 2021. This article highlights Mike Greenberg’s co‑leadership of the Allen Discovery Center for Human Brain Evolution, which links evolutionary genetic variants to their effects in neurons to explain how human brains acquired uniquely human cognitive and behavioral capacities.

Contact

Email: michael_greenberg@hms.harvard.edu
Lab website: greenberg.hms.harvard.edu

Publications View
FOS binding sites are a hub for the evolution of activity-dependent gene regulatory programs in human neurons.
Authors: Authors: Carter AC, Koreman GT, Petrocelli JE, Robb JE, Bushinsky EM, Trowbridge SK, Kingsley DM, Walsh CA, Song JHT, Greenberg ME.
bioRxiv
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Human-chimpanzee tetraploid system defines mechanisms of species-specific neural gene regulation.
Authors: Authors: Song JHT, Carter AC, Bushinsky EM, Beck SG, Petrocelli JE, Koreman GT, Babu J, Kingsley DM, Greenberg ME, Walsh CA.
bioRxiv
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Novel environment exposure drives temporally defined and region-specific chromatin accessibility and gene expression changes in the hippocampus.
Authors: Authors: Traunmüller L, Duffy EE, Liu H, Sanalidou S, Assad EG, Sun S, Pajarillo NS, Niu N, Griffith EC, Greenberg ME.
bioRxiv
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Structural basis for the midnolin-proteasome pathway and its role in suppressing myeloma.
Authors: Authors: Nardone C, Gao J, Seo HS, Mintseris J, Ort L, Yip MCJ, Negasi M, Besschetnova AK, Kamitaki N, Gygi SP, Dhe-Paganon S, Munshi N, Fulciniti M, Greenberg ME, Shao S, Elledge SJ, Gu X.
bioRxiv
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Cell-specific delivery of GJB2 restores auditory function in mouse models of DFNB1 deafness and mediates appropriate expression in NHP cochlea.
Authors: Authors: Ivanchenko MV, Booth KTA, Karavitaki KD, Antonellis LM, Nagy MA, Peters CW, Price S, Li Y, Lytvyn A, Ward A, Griffith EC, Hrvatin S, Greenberg ME, Corey DP.
bioRxiv
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Cis-regulatory elements driving motor neuron-selective viral payload expression within the mammalian spinal cord.
Authors: Authors: Nagy MA, Price S, Wang K, Gill S, Ren E, Jayne L, Pajak V, Deighan S, Liu B, Lu X, Diallo A, Lo SC, Kleiman R, Henderson C, Suh J, Griffith EC, Greenberg ME, Hrvatin S.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
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Interaction of methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) with distinct enhancers in the mouse cortex.
Authors: Authors: Mishra GP, Sun EX, Chin T, Eckhardt M, Greenberg ME, Stroud H.
Nat Neurosci
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Cis-regulatory elements driving motor neuron-restricted viral payload expression within the mammalian spinal cord.
Authors: Authors: Nagy MA, Price S, Wang K, Gill SP, Ren E, McElrath L, Pajak V, Deighan S, Liu B, Liu X, Diallo A, Lo SC, Kleiman R, Henderson C, Suh J, Griffith EC, Greenberg ME, Hrvatin S.
bioRxiv
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Neuronal enhancers fine-tune adaptive circuit plasticity.
Authors: Authors: Griffith EC, West AE, Greenberg ME.
Neuron
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Thyroid hormone remodels cortex to coordinate body-wide metabolism and exploration.
Authors: Authors: Hochbaum DR, Hulshof L, Urke A, Wang W, Dubinsky AC, Farnsworth HC, Hakim R, Lin S, Kleinberg G, Robertson K, Park C, Solberg A, Yang Y, Baynard C, Nadaf NM, Beron CC, Girasole AE, Chantranupong L, Cortopassi MD, Prouty S, Geistlinger L, Banks AS, Scanlan TS, Datta SR, Greenberg ME, Boulting GL, Macosko EZ, Sabatini BL.
Cell
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