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Paul Lombroso, MD

Professor Emeritus in the Child Study Center
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Additional Titles

Director, Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology

About

Titles

Professor Emeritus in the Child Study Center

Director, Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology

Appointments

Education & Training

NIMH/Merck Postdoctoral Fellow
Child Study Center, Yale University (1990)
Research Associate
Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University (1988)
Chief
Chief, Child and Adolescent Outpatient Clinic, St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center of New York (1987)
MD
Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1975)
BA
Harvard College (1972)
Resident
Bronx Mental Health Center
Fellow
Beth Israel Hospital

Board Certifications

  • Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

    Certification Organization
    AB of Psychiatry & Neurology
    Original Certification Date
    1987
  • Psychiatry

    Certification Organization
    AB of Psychiatry & Neurology
    Original Certification Date
    1980

Research

Overview

The Lombroso Lab studies how we normally learn and how these processes are disrupted in various neuropsychiatric disorders. We are interested in a number of disorders including Tourette’s syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, autism, as well as drug addiction and Alzheimer’s disease. Our work focuses on a brain-specific protein tyrosine phosphatase called STEP and its role in regulating intracellular signaling.

Studies have shown that STEP expression is disrupted in over 10 different disorders. Some have have elevated levels of STEP while others have lower expression. Thus the current model is that optimal levels of STEP are required for proper synaptic function. Substrates of STEP include the kinases ERK1/2, Pyk2 and Fyn and dephosphorylation inactivates these enzymesem. STEP also regulates the cell surface expression of AMPA and NMDA glutamate receptors, and leads to their endocytosis. Signals that lead to the inactivation of STEP potentiate learning, while signals that lead to the activation of STEP oppose the development of synaptic plasticity. We use biochemical, molecular, immunocytochemical, and behavioral techniques to address the role that STEP plays in regulating aspects of learning.

  • Identification and characterization of STEP inhibitors.
  • Characterization of the STEP knock-out mouse.
  • Regulation of glutamate receptor trafficking by STEP.
  • Role of STEP in different disorders
  • Phosphorylation of STEP and function of phosphorylation at specific sites.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Adolescent Psychiatry; Alzheimer Disease; Child Psychiatry; Fragile X Syndrome; Neuropharmacology; Neurosciences; Parkinson Disease; Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases, Non-Receptor; Psychiatry; Schizophrenia

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Paul Lombroso's published research.

Publications

2020

2018

2016

2015

2014

2013

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • honor

    NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Award

Get In Touch

Contacts

Academic Office Number
Mailing Address

Child Study Center

PO Box 207900, 230 South Frontage Road

New Haven, CT 06520-7900

United States