
Céline Plachez, Ph.D.
Investigator
Laboratory of Developmental Neuroscience
Program in Neuroscience
Hussman Institute for Autism
801 W. Baltimore Street / Suite 301
Baltimore MD 21201
443-860-2580 ext. 738
cplachez@hussmanautism.org
2014-present Investigator, Program in Neuroscience, Hussman Institute for Autism, Baltimore, MD
2014 Research Associate, Pharmacology, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
2001-2013 Postdoctoral Fellow, Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
1998-2001 Ph.D. Neurobiology, University of Montpellier, France
1996-1998 M.S. Cellular Biology & Physiology, University of Montpellier, France
My current research at the Hussman Institute for Autism focuses on studying axonal guidance and cell migration mechanisms during early brain development. Using animal models as well as cell culture to understand the neurological differences happening during brain development in autism, I am particularly interested in analyzing how some GABAergic interneuron migration happens at early stages in autism.
During my Ph.D. with Dr. Max Recasens at University of Montpellier, France, I studied the expression of the glutamate transporters during in vitro development of hippocampal neurons. I showed that both GLAST and GLT transporters may play a key role in glutamate uptake during early developmental stages. My first postdoctoral fellowship was with Dr. Linda Richards at University of Maryland Baltimore. I investigated the genes involved in the corpus callosum formation during mouse brain development. I uncovered a number of new mechanisms and molecules (including NFI members, Slit/Robo, Npn1/Semaphorin, and Emx2) that are required for callosal formation. I then worked with Dr. Elizabeth Powell to study the role of HGF/SF (hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor) and its receptor, Met, on GABAergic interneuron migration during brain development. In 2008, I received an award from the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund to study the role of the metalloproteinases (MMPs) in stem cell migration after transplantation in mouse adult brain, with Dr. Adam Puche at University of Maryland Baltimore. I also studied the migration of GABAergic interneurons during the development of the olfactory bulb with Dr. Michael Shipley. In 2014 I joined the Department of Pharmacology as a research associate to study stem cell transplantation during traumatic brain injury with Dr. Paul Yarowsky.