Duke Institute for Brain Sciences

My laboratory studies the genetic and cellular mechanisms that regulate stem cells, neural development, and neurodevelopmental disorders. We are particularly interested in the role of mRNA metabolism in neural stem cell divisions of the developing brain. The genes that regulate neural stem cell division remain poorly understood, as do mechanistic explanations of how aberrant division causes microcephaly (reduced brain size). Our goal is to help fill this void by using a multidisciplinary approach, which includes mouse genetics, microscopy, and genomics, to uncover new genes important for stem cell division and cerebral cortical development.

Postdoctoral Fellow, National Human Genome Research Institute, 2003-2010

Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Biological Chemistry), 2003

B.S., Tufts University (Biology), 1993

Silver, DL, Watkins-Chow, D Schreck, K, Pierfelice, T, Larson, DM, Burnetti, A, Liaw, H, Myung, K, Walsh, CA, Gaiano, N, and Pavan, WJ (2010). The exon junction complex component, Magoh, controls brain size by regulating neural stem cell division. Nature Neuroscience 13(5):551-558.

Silver, DL, Hou, L, Somerville, R, Young, ME, Apte, SS, and Pavan, WJ. The secreted metalloprotease, ADAMTS20, is required for melanoblast survival. (2008) PloS Genetics Feb. 29; 4(2).

Matera, I, Watkins-Chow, DE, Loftus, SK, Hou, L, Incao, A, Silver, DL, Rivas, C, Elliott, EC, Baxter, LL, and Pavan, WJ (2008). A sensitized mutagenesis screen identifies Gli3 as a modifier of Sox10 neurocristopathy. Hum Mol Genet. 17(14): 2118-2131.