Thanks for visiting! I recently started my lab at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, Germany. Our research focuses on the most evolutionarily advanced brain structure, the neocortex, which generates our complex thoughts and behaviors. We study prenatal development when stem cells differentiate into distinct neurons in the brain - in particular, how the ribosome translates mRNA into protein, as the final essential gatekeeper of gene expression. Our work adapts cutting-edge technologies to analysis of the protein synthesis machinery in this complex developmental system, with the goal of visualizing mRNA translation in action at high-resolution.
I pursued postdoctoral training in the structural biophysics lab of Christian Spahn at the Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin – experts in multiparticle cryo-electron microscopy, a technique leading the "resolution revolution" in structural analysis. By solving the first structure of ribosomes from the nervous system, we investigated mechanisms of translation control at near-atomic resolution during brain development. My structural work incorporated analyses like RNAseq/RiboSeq, pSILAC Mass Spec, and Click Chemistry to paint a highly integrative picture of neurodevelopmental protein synthesis.
I completed MD and PhD doctoral degrees in the Rutgers–Princeton Universities Physician-Scientist Program in the USA. The goal of this unique training is to tackle medical-science challenges, integrating clinical and basic research skills into innovative solutions. My PhD research in the lab of Mladen-Roko Rasin at Rutgers University analyzed mRNA-binding proteins and translation in the developing brain. We found that mRNA translation in the neocortex is highly dynamic, under the control of modular ribosome complexes. For more about my clinical work, click red hook above.
Prior to my doctoral training, I majored in Neuroscience at Columbia University, where I worked in the lab of Brian McCabe studying Drosophila neuromuscular junction development, and then in the lab of Chris Henderson studying motor neuron disease with embryonic stem cell derived motor neurons.
Matthew L. Kraushar, PhD, MD
2021