Dr. Sabatini’s laboratory focuses on understanding the function and regulation of synapses in the mammalian brain with a particular interest in how the function of synapses is perturbed in human disease such as autism, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. In order to conduct their studies, Dr. Sabatini and his group create new optical and chemical methods to be able to observe and manipulate the biochemical signaling associated with synapse function.

Dr. Sabatini obtained a Ph.D. from the Department of Neurobiology and M.D. degree from the Harvard/ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Program in Health Sciences and Technology. After completing his postdoctoral fellowship at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, he joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School. In 2008, he was named an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and in 2010 was named the Takeda Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School.