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Dr. Susan Hockfield
President Emerita and Professor of Neuroscience
Primary DLC
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
MIT Room:
76-461
(617) 253-7284
hockfield@mit.edu
Research Summary
Susan Hockfield's laboratory has studied molecular substrates of mammalian development. We identified a family of glycovariants of the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteoglycan, aggrecan, whose expression is regulated by neuronal activity early in an animal's life. Expression of the aggrecan glycoforms is regulated in parallel with critical period events and may play a role in stabilizing mature synaptic relationships. A related ECM protein, BEHAB/brevican, is expressed when glial cells travel during development and after brain injury. BEHAB/brevican is also expressed at very high levels in brain tumors, and can mediate the motility of tumor cells. A key feature of our work has been to bring biochemical and molecular biological techniques to the classical anatomical analysis of mammalian CNS development.
The former MIT President is now a new faculty member in the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research (KIICR). Hockfield, is a noted neurobiologist whose research interests include glioma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The first life scientist to head MIT, she supported early on the emerging convergence of the Institute's life sciences, engineering, and physical sciences programs. The establishment of the Koch Institute reflects these efforts, and Hockfield's instrumental vision for the future of cancer research at MIT.
Recent Work
Projects
November 30, 2021
The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship
MIT Future Founders Initiative
Principal Investigators
Sangeeta Bhatia
,
Susan Hockfield
,
Nancy Hopkins
Books
Publication date:
April 12, 2019
Books
Susan Hockfield,
Dr. Susan Hockfield
The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next Technology Revolution
Related Faculty
Prof. Steven Flavell
Associate Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Rebecca G Canter
Research Affiliate
Prof. Thomas N Byrne
Senior Lecturer