Pasca Lab at Stanford Medicine

Constructing and deconstructing the nervous system

We develop stem cell-based in vitro and in vivo models to reconstruct neural development and circuits, dissect the mechanisms that shape them, understand how these processes are altered in disease, and use these insights to develop therapeutics.

Explore our research

Stem Cell Neuroscience

Creating stem cell models to access the nervous system.

Principles of Neural Development

Discovering how the nervous system builds itself.

Neural Circuit Assembly & Function

Reconstructing and interrogating circuits in vitro and in vivo.

Disease Mechanisms & Therapeutic Development

Understanding disease biology and developing therapeutics

Latest Discoveries

Developmental xenocortication

Human cortical organoids can integrate, mature and form extensive circuits in the developing brain in vivo.

We show that human cortical organoids implanted into the developing mouse brain, expand, vascularize and integrate, forming long range connections and functional circuits. This work opens a new developmental window into human brain development and disease.

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Convergence and divergence in autism

Different genetic causes of autism converge on common molecular mechanisms during brain development.

We used human cortical organoids to track how diverse autism-associated mutations alter brain development, revealing shared molecular pathways that emerge as neural cells mature.

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Decoding Human Axon Guidance

A human assembloid model reveals key regulators of axon guidance across the developing neural midline.

We developed human midline assembloids to model axon guidance during neural development. The model revealed key human-specific regulators of axon guidance, including GALNT2 and PLD3.

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