Daniel Campbell, PhD

Daniel Campbell, Assistant Professor in the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, studies the impact of genetic and environmental factors on brain development in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A major focus of Dr. Campbell's research is the long noncoding RNA's -- genes that are transcribed from DNA but not translated into protein. In the human brain noncoding RNA's have been overlooked. However, Dr. Campbell's research was the first to show that an ASD associated genetic variant implicates a specific long noncoding RNA (Science Translational Medicine, 2012). His laboratory's research has established the effects of manipulated expression of the ASD-associated long noncoding RNA in human neurons on neuronal architecture and gene expression (Genes, 2016; Developmental Neuroscience, 2016). His research involves indentifying al long noncoding RNA's expressed in human neurons, a goal that had not previously been realized (Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2015).

An additional interest to Dr. Campbell is gene-environment interactions that contribute to ASD risk. His group was the first to show specific gene-environment interaction between the gene MET and air pollution that independently contributes to risk of ASD (Epidemiology, 2014). Ongoing experiments seek to determine the impact of air pollution on gene expression in human neurons.

Education Training

• BS Psychobiology, Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA, USA
• PhD Neurobiology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA, USA
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

Selected Grants

• R01, National Institute of Mental Health
• R21, National Institute of Mental Health
• Foundation Grants, Autism Speaks

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications

• Developmental Neuroscience, 2016, 38(5): 375-383
• Genes, 2016, 7(10): pii:E76
• Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2015, 9: 392
• American Journal of Psychiatry, 2015, 172(3): 212-213
• Epidemiology, 2014, 25(1): 44-47
• International Review of Neurobiology, 2013, 113: 35-59
• Science Translational Medicine, 2012, 4(128): 128ra40

Awards Honors

• Faculty Mentor, American Academy of Neurology Summer Medical Student Research Fellowship 2016
• Faculty Mentor, Rose Hills Science and Engineering Fellowship, 2013
• Faculty Mentory, Rose Hills Science and Engineering Fellowship, 2012
• Cozzarelli Prize, 'Paper of the Year' in Biomedical Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2006