Research
Human Variation, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Neurodevelopment, Stem Cell Models, Human Genetics
Appointments
Assistant Professor, Human Genetics
Biography
Originally from Columbus, OH, Michael F. Wells earned a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Notre Dame in 2008, and a PhD in Neurobiology from Duke University in 2015 under the guidance of Dr. Guoping Feng. In 2021, he completed his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Kevin Eggan at Harvard University and the Broad Institute. His research focuses on discovering the foundations of human brain diversity and the mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism and intellectual disability. His work has been published in such high-impact journals as Nature, Cell, Neuron, and Cell Stem Cell, and has been funded by a F31 Predoctoral Fellowship, a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence award, and a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Postdoctoral Enrichment Program award. Outside of the laboratory, Michael serves as the creator and co-director of the COVID-19 National Scientist Volunteer Database (covid19sci.org), which is a resource for health officials and decision-makers around the country looking to solve COVID-19-related problems. In addition, he is the Chair of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Trainee Advisory Committee and has previously participated in the SfN Early Career Policy Ambassador program.
Publications
- Di Re, J, Marini, M, Hussain, SI, Singh, AK, Venkatesh, A, Alshammari, MA et al.. βIV spectrin abundancy, cellular distribution and sensitivity to AKT/GSK3 regulation in schizophrenia. Mol Psychiatry. 2025;30 (7):3090-3102. doi: 10.1038/s41380-025-02917-1. PubMed PMID:39920295 PubMed Central PMC12185341.
- Guss, EJ, Sathe, L, Dai, A, Derebenskiy, T, Vega, AR, Eggan, K et al.. Protocol for neurogenin-2-mediated induction of human stem cell-derived neural progenitor cells. STAR Protoc. 2024;5 (1):102878. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2024.102878. PubMed PMID:38335091 PubMed Central PMC10865475.
- Scala, M, Khan, K, Beneteau, C, Fox, RG, von Hardenberg, S, Khan, A et al.. Biallelic loss-of-function variants in CACHD1 cause a novel neurodevelopmental syndrome with facial dysmorphism and multisystem congenital abnormalities. Genet Med. 2024;26 (4):101057. doi: 10.1016/j.gim.2023.101057. PubMed PMID:38158856 PubMed Central PMC11910193.
- Wells, MF, Nemesh, J, Ghosh, S, Mitchell, JM, Salick, MR, Mello, CJ et al.. Natural variation in gene expression and viral susceptibility revealed by neural progenitor cell villages. Cell Stem Cell. 2023;30 (3):312-332.e13. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2023.01.010. PubMed PMID:36796362 PubMed Central PMC10581885.
- Wang, M, Li, W, Hao, J, Gonzales, A 3rd, Zhao, Z, Flores, RS et al.. Molecularly cleavable bioinks facilitate high-performance digital light processing-based bioprinting of functional volumetric soft tissues. Nat Commun. 2022;13 (1):3317. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-31002-2. PubMed PMID:35680907 PubMed Central PMC9184597.