About Us

Investigators at UMass Chan Medical School conduct research on normal brain function and the causes and treatment of brain dysfunction, including developmental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.  Basic science research is necessary for understanding normal function and disease mechanisms, clinical research seeks to optimize treatment outcomes, and translational research bridges the gap between these two.  The highly interactive and collaborative environment within the neuroscience community at UMass Chan Medical School promises to quickly capitalize on research findings, leading to improved diagnosis and therapy.  The RNA Therapeutics Institute and the Horai Gene Therapy Center conduct groundbreaking research devising methods to disrupt aberrant gene function or replace gene expression in the nervous system in preclinical models, laying the groundwork for gene therapy of human disease in the future.