Karl Deisseroth

Clinical Focus

• Psychiatry

Honors and Awards

• Lawrence C. Katz Prize in Neurobiology, Duke University (2008)
• Schuetze Prize in Neurobiology, Columbia University (2008)
• McKnight Foundation Scholar Award, McKnight Foundation (2007)
• Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE), NIH (2006)
• McKnight Foundation Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Award, McKnight Foundation (2005)

Professional Education

Postdoctoral Advisees

Polina Anikeeva, Thomas Davidson, Ilka Diester, Inbal Goshen, Kimberly Thompson, Kay Tye, Melissa Warden, Ilana Witten, Ofer Yizhar

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

• Neurosciences
• Psychiatry and Behavioral Science
• Bioengineering

Web Site Links

• Deisseroth Lab Website

Research Interests

Research in Dr. Deisseroth's laboratory focuses on developing optical, molecular and cellular tools to observe, perturb, and re-engineer brain circuits. His laboratory is based in the James H. Clark Center at Stanford and has developed optogenetic and tissue engineering methods, employing techniques spanning electrophysiology, molecular biology, optics, neural activity imaging, animal behavior, and computational neural network modeling. Also a physician in the psychiatry department, Professor Deisseroth employs novel electromagnetic brain stimulation techniques in human patients for therapeutic purposes.

Publications

• Parvalbumin neurons and gamma rhythms enhance cortical circuit performance. Sohal VS, Zhang F, Yizhar O, Deisseroth K. Nature. 2009; 459 (7247): 698-702
• Driving fast-spiking cells induces gamma rhythm and controls sensory responses. Cardin JA, Carlén M, Meletis K, Knoblich U, Zhang F, Deisseroth K, Tsai LH, Moore CI. Nature. 2009; 459 (7247): 663-7
• Phasic firing in dopaminergic neurons is sufficient for behavioral conditioning. Tsai HC, Zhang F, Adamantidis A, Stuber GD, Bonci A, de Lecea L, Deisseroth K. Science. 2009; 324 (5930): 1080-4
• Optical deconstruction of parkinsonian neural circuitry. Gradinaru V, Mogri M, Thompson KR, Henderson JM, Deisseroth K. Science. 2009; 324 (5925): 354-9
• Temporally precise in vivo control of intracellular signalling. Airan RD, Thompson KR, Fenno LE, Bernstein H, Deisseroth K. Nature. 2009; 458 (7241): 1025-9