Sameer Bajikar, PhD - Understanding the mechanisms in childhood neurodevelopmental disorders.

Sameer Bajikar, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Cell Biology
Transcript:
So I love being a researcher because I get to use my creativity to study the underlying biology of childhood neurodevelopmental disorders. And as part of being a researcher, I get to work as a team with other individuals to be able to design experiments and make new discoveries that can help improve the lives of these children.

My name is Samir Barakah, and I'm an assistant professor of cell biology and biomedical engineering. My lab uses a combination of cell models, animal models, and computational biology to try to understand more about the underlying mechanisms that go awry in childhood neurodevelopmental disorders.

Children with neurodevelopmental disorders like autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability have very few treatment options available to them currently. Our lab is studying these diseases using a number of different tools to help understand the underlying biology that may be going awry. And by understanding those processes, we hope to develop therapeutics and drugs that can help correct those processes and have these children lead healthier lives.