Daniel Colon-Ramos PhD

Assistant Professor of Cell Biology

Biographical Info

Daniel Colón-Ramos was born and raised in Puerto Rico. He completed his B.A. at Harvard University, where he did research, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, on the use of medicinal plants by indigenous groups in Central America. He then completed his PhD in the lab of Dr. Sally Kornbluth at Duke University, where he combined bioinformatics, molecular biology, biochemistry and cell biological approaches to answer questions critical for understanding the molecular mechanisms of apoptosis, a physiological process tightly linked to cancer. He then trained in molecular genetics, physiology and neurobiology as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Kang Shen at Stanford University.

The Colón-Ramos lab is interested in understanding the developmental events that direct precise neural connectivity. In particular, we are interested in how these events are coordinated in complex neuropil structures such as the brain. How are these developmental events simultaneously coordinated between pre- and postsynaptic partners to allow precise wiring? How do they give rise to highly organized neuropil structures such as the brain? We use the nematode C. elegans to look at the development of circuits in vivo and with single cell resolution.

Education & Training

AB

Harvard College (1998)

Ph.D.

Duke University Medical Center (2003)

Postdoctoral fellow

Stanford University, Biology (2004 - 2008)

Honors & Recognition

• Sloan Research Fellow
  (2010)
• Klingenstein Fellowship Award in the Neurosciences
  (2009)