Anne Elizabeth West

Professor of Neurobiology

The long term goal of our laboratory is to understand at a cellular/molecular level how neuronal activity regulates the formation and maturation of synapses during brain development, and ultimately to use genetic model systems to understand how defects in this developmental process lead to cognitive dysfunction.

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Professor of Neurobiology
  • Professor of Cell Biology
  • Member of the Duke Cancer Institute
  • Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences

Contact Information

  • Office Location: Bryan Research Building, 311 Research Drive Room 301D, Durham, NC 27710
  • Email Address: west@neuro.duke.edu
  • Websites:

Education

  • B.A. Cornell University, 1989
  • M.D. Harvard University, 1998
  • Ph.D. Harvard University, 1998

Courses Taught

  • UPGEN 778F: University Program in Genetics and Genomics Biological Solutions Module VI
  • UPGEN 778B: University Program in Genetics and Genomics Biological Solutions Module Il
  • NEUROBIO 762: Neurobiology of Disease
  • NEUROBIO 726S: Neurobiology Journal Club
  • NEUROBIO 719: Concepts in Neuroscience I: Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology
  • NEUROBIO 393: Research Independent Study

In the News

Representative Publications

  • Aldridge, Andrew I., and Anne E. West. “Epigenetics and the timing of neuronal differentiation.” Curr Opin Neurobiol 89 (December 2024): 102915. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2024.102915.
  • Hazlett, Mariah F., Victoria L. Hall, Esha Patel, Aaron Halvorsen, Nicole Calakos, and Anne E. West. “The Perineuronal Net Protein Brevican Acts in Nucleus Accumbens Parvalbumin-Expressing Interneurons of Adult Mice to Regulate Excitatory Synaptic Inputs and Motivated Behaviors.” Biol Psychiatry 96, no. 9 (November 1, 2024): 694–707. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.02.003.
  • Griffith, Eric C., Anne E. West, and Michael E. Greenberg. “Neuronal enhancers fine-tune adaptive circuit plasticity.” Neuron 112, no. 18 (September 25, 2024): 3043–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2024.08.002.
  • Minto, Melyssa S., Jesús Emiliano Sotelo-Fonseca, Vijyendra Ramesh, and Anne E. West. “Genome binding properties of Zic transcription factors underlie their changing functions during neuronal maturation.” BMC Biol 22, no. 1 (September 2, 2024): 189. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-024-01989-9.
  • Minto, Melyssa, Jesús Emiliano Sotelo-Fonseca, Vijyendra Ramesh, and Anne E. West. “Genome binding properties of Zic transcription factors underlie their changing functions during neuronal maturation.” BioRxiv, January 4, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.01.04.574185.