Jonah Chan, PhD

Professor
Department of Neurology
+1 415 353-4390
Research Description: 

Dr. Jonah R. Chan received his BS in Biochemistry and PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Neurobiology at Stanford University with Dr. Eric Shooter. Jonah is currently the Debbie and Andy Rachleff Distinguished Professor of Neurology. He is a member of the Neuroscience Graduate Program, Vice Chief in the Division of Neuroimmunology and Glial Biology and Co-Director of the Innovation Program for Remyelination and Repair at UCSF.

The Chan laboratory has a long-standing interest in fundamental glial/neuronal interactions and the molecular mechanisms that regulate myelination. Myelination is one of the most exquisite examples of cell-cell interaction found in nature and functions to maximize the efficiency and velocity of action potentials transmitted throughout the nervous system. While much has been learned about the global determinants that generate myelin-forming cells during development, the Chan laboratory is particularly interested in understanding how local environmental cues control the spatiotemporal regulation of differentiation and myelination, including both molecular and biophysical interactions. Identification of an environment that is conducive for myelination could have important implications for efforts aimed at promoting repair and remyelination in the nervous system.

Current Laboratory Members:

Trung Huynh, BS
Lab Manager
[email protected]

Sarah Raissi, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
[email protected]

Wendy Xin, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
[email protected]

Monique Lillis, BS
Graduate Student
[email protected]

Albert Zhang, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
[email protected]

Sonia Nocera, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
[email protected]

Lahin Lalani, BS
Graduate Student
[email protected]

Irvin Bhangal, BA
Assistant Specialist
[email protected]

Nora Jabassini, BS
Assistant Specialist
[email protected]

Primary Thematic Area: 
Neurobiology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Research Summary: 
Neuronal/Glial Interactions that Control Myelination

Websites

Publications: 

Author Correction: Micropillar arrays as a high-throughput screening platform for therapeutics in multiple sclerosis.

Nature medicine

Mei F, Fancy SPJ, Shen YA, Niu J, Zhao C, Presley B, Miao E, Lee S, Mayoral SR, Redmond SA, Etxeberria A, Xiao L, Franklin RJM, Green A, Hauser SL, Chan JR

Minimum effective dose of clemastine in a mouse model of preterm white matter injury.

Pediatric research

Odell EP, Jabassini N, Schniedewind B, Pease-Raissi SE, Frymoyer A, Christians U, Green AJ, Chan JR, Ostrem BEL

Acute and Chronic Demyelination Independent of Inflammation Promotes Tissue- and Blood-markers of Neuroaxonal Pathology (S17.010).

Neurology

Ahmed Abdelhak, Christian Cordano, Katie Emberley, Greg Duncan, Sonia Nocera, Kirtana Ananth, Nora Jabassini, Kiarra Ning, Henriette Reinsberg, Frederike Oertel, Alexandra Beaudry-Richard, Jens Kuhle, Trent Watkins, Jonah Chan, Ben Emery, Ari Green

Synaptic Injury in the IPL of the Retina Is a Predictor of Progression in Multiple Sclerosis (P6-6.003).

Neurology

Christian Cordano, Sebastian Werneburg, Ahmed Abdelhak, Daniel Bennett, Alexandra Beaudry-richard, Greg Duncan, Frederike Oertel, John Boscardin, Hao Yiu, Nora Jabassini, Lauren Merritt, Sonia Nocera, Jung Sin, Shivany Condor Montes, Kirtana Ananth, Antje Bischof, Bardia Nourbakhsh, Stephen Hauser, Bruce Cree, Ben Emery, Jonah Chan, Dorothy Schafer, Ari Green

Synaptic injury in the inner plexiform layer of the retina is associated with progression in multiple sclerosis.

Cell reports. Medicine

Cordano C, Werneburg S, Abdelhak A, Bennett DJ, Beaudry-Richard A, Duncan GJ, Oertel FC, Boscardin WJ, Yiu HH, Jabassini N, Merritt L, Nocera S, Sin JH, Samana IP, Condor Montes SY, Ananth K, Bischof A, UCSF MS EPIC Team, Nourbakhsh B, Hauser SL, Cree BAC, Emery B, Schafer DP, Chan JR, Green AJ