Flora Vaccarino, MD
Biography
Research & Publications
News
Appointments
Biography
Flora Vaccarino is the Harris Professor at the Child Study Center and Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Yale University. She received her MD from the University of Padova in Italy. She spent few years as Neuropharmacology Fellow at NIH, trained in clinical psychiatry at Yale, and then was a Research Fellow in developmental genetics at the Yale School of Medicine, where she raised through the ranks to Assistant, Associate and full Professor. Vaccarino leads a multidisciplinary research group working towards new directions for the study of mammalian brain development, particularly human, using stem cell biology and genomics as tools. She has been studying brain development in animal models for over 20 years, focusing on the role of growth factor receptor signaling in the regulation of stem cell behavior and cerebral cortex morphogenesis. Inspired by Sasai’s work, Vaccarino and her lab pioneered the generation of 3D brain organoids from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in 2012, and showed that they recapitulate early fetal development of the human cerebral cortex. They then performed an extensive comparison of the organoid’s transcriptome and noncoding elements with isogenic postmortem human fetal cortex and characterized gene regulatory mechanisms that shape the earliest cell fate decisions in human cortical development. Her lab has generated an extensive collection of patient-derived iPSC lines to study altered gene regulatory mechanisms in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Her interests include human somatic genomic variation as a tool to study lineage specification in human embryonic development. She participates to the Brain Somatic Mosaicism Network (BSMN), a multi-site consortium that studies somatic mosaicism and its implication for neuropsychiatric diseases.
Vaccarino is a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the PsychENCODE and the Brain Somatic Mosaicism Consortia.
Education & Training
- ResidentYale University, School of Medicine, Psychiatry (1991)
- Visiting Assistant ProfessorFIDIA-Georgetown Institute for the Neurosciences (1987)
- Research FellowNIMH-Laboratory of Preclinical Pharmacology (1985)
- MDPadua University Medical University (1979)
Honors & Recognition
Award | Awarding Organization | Date |
---|---|---|
Fellow | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) | 2015 |
NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Award | NARSAD | 2011 |
Collegio dei Docenti, Dottorato di Ricerca in Neuropsicofarmacologia Clinica e Sperimentale | University of Messina, Italy | 2011 |
Harris Endowed Professorship | Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine | 2010 |
Executive Councillor | International Society for Developmental Neuroscience | 2008 |
Tourette’s Syndrome Association Award | Tourette’s Syndrome Association | 2004 |
NARSAD Independent Investigator Award | NARSAD | 2003 |
Essel Investigator | NARSAD | 2003 |
NARSAD Independent Investigator Award | NARSAD | 2000 |
Tourette’s Syndrome Association Award | Tourette’s Syndrome Association | 1998 |
Professional Opportunities for Women in Research & Education Award | National Science Foundation | 1997 |
NARSAD Young Investigator Award | NARSAD | 1993 |
Lustman Award | Yale University | 1991 |
NARSAD Young Investigator Award | National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression | 1990 |
Rotary International Educational Award | Rotary Foundation | 1981 |
Professional Service
Organization | Role | Date |
---|---|---|
Yale School of Medicine | Member, YSM Faculty Advisory Council | 2015 - Present |
Yale University | Scientific Advisory, Yale Genome Editing Center | 2015 - Present |
Yale University | Clinical and Translational Strategic Planning Committee | 2015 - Present |
NIH | Ad hoc Member, ZRG1 BDCN-C (02) Special Emphasis Panel: Brain Disorders in Animal Models and Patient Populations | 2014 |
NIH | Ad hoc Member, Silvio O. Conte Centers for Basic or Translational Mental Health Research Panel, NIMH | 2013 |
NIH | Member, NIMH Repository & Genomics Resource (RGR) Steering Committee | 2013 - Present |
Telethon , Italy | Scientific Committee member | 2013 - Present |
Yale University | Human Embryonic Stem Cell Oversight Committee (ESCRO) | 2013 - Present |
Journal of Neuroscience | Associate Editor | 2013 - Present |
Brain Research | Senior Editor | 2011 - Present |
Yale University School of Medicine | Senior Faculty Allotment Committee | 2009 - 2012 |
International Society of Developmental Neuroscience | International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience | 2008 - Present |
Frontiers in Neurogenesis | Associate Editor | 2008 - Present |
Yale University School of Medicine | Funds and Fellowships Committee | 2006 - 2009 |
NIH | Developmental Brain Disorders (DBD) Study Section, NIH | 2005 - 2009 |
Yale University | Animal Users Committee | 2004 - Present |
Society for Neuroscience | Member | 1983 - Present |
Departments & Organizations
- Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Training Program
- Child Study Center
- Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program
- Kavli Institute for Neuroscience
- Molecular Cell Biology, Genetics and Development
- Neuroscience Track
- Program in Neurodevelopment and Regeneration
- Tic Disorder & Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Program
- Vaccarino Lab
- WHRY Pilot Project Program Investigators
- Wu Tsai Institute
- Yale Center for Genomic Health
- Yale Combined Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS)
- Yale Stem Cell Center
- Yale Ventures