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
Maternal immune activation in mice disrupts proteostasis in the fetal brain.
Authors: Authors: Kalish BT, Kim E, Finander B, Duffy EE, Kim H, Gilman CK, Yim YS, Tong L, Kaufman RJ, Griffith EC, Choi GB, Greenberg ME, Huh JR.
Nat Neurosci
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Bidirectional perisomatic inhibitory plasticity of a Fos neuronal network.
Authors: Authors: Yap EL, Pettit NL, Davis CP, Nagy MA, Harmin DA, Golden E, Dagliyan O, Lin C, Rudolph S, Sharma N, Griffith EC, Harvey CD, Greenberg ME.
Nature
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Sensory Experience Engages Microglia to Shape Neural Connectivity through a Non-Phagocytic Mechanism.
Authors: Authors: Cheadle L, Rivera SA, Phelps JS, Ennis KA, Stevens B, Burkly LC, Lee WA, Greenberg ME.
Neuron
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Clinical, histological, and nanomechanical parameters of implants placed in healthy and metabolically compromised patients.
Authors: Authors: Granato R, Bergamo ETP, Witek L, Bonfante EA, Marin C, Greenberg M, Kurgansky G, Coelho PG.
J Dent
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Homozygous deletions implicate non-coding epigenetic marks in Autism spectrum disorder.
Authors: Authors: Schmitz-Abe K, Sanchez-Schmitz G, Doan RN, Hill RS, Chahrour MH, Mehta BK, Servattalab S, Ataman B, Lam AN, Morrow EM, Greenberg ME, Yu TW, Walsh CA, Markianos K.
Sci Rep
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An Activity-Mediated Transition in Transcription in Early Postnatal Neurons.
Authors: Authors: Stroud H, Yang MG, Tsitohay YN, Davis CP, Sherman MA, Hrvatin S, Ling E, Greenberg ME.
Neuron
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Neurons that regulate mouse torpor.
Authors: Authors: Hrvatin S, Sun S, Wilcox OF, Yao H, Lavin-Peter AJ, Cicconet M, Assad EG, Palmer ME, Aronson S, Banks AS, Griffith EC, Greenberg ME.
Nature
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Sleep Loss Can Cause Death through Accumulation of Reactive Oxygen Species in the Gut.
Authors: Authors: Vaccaro A, Kaplan Dor Y, Nambara K, Pollina EA, Lin C, Greenberg ME, Rogulja D.
Cell
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Single-nucleus RNA sequencing of mouse auditory cortex reveals critical period triggers and brakes.
Authors: Authors: Kalish BT, Barkat TR, Diel EE, Zhang EJ, Greenberg ME, Hensch TK.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
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Mapping the cis-regulatory architecture of the human retina reveals noncoding genetic variation in disease.
Authors: Authors: Cherry TJ, Yang MG, Harmin DA, Tao P, Timms AE, Bauwens M, Allikmets R, Jones EM, Chen R, De Baere E, Greenberg ME.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
View full abstract on Pubmed