I am an Associate Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego. My lab studies basic mechanisms of how the blood-brain barrier forms during development, how the blood-brain barrier interacts with the neuronal circuity to regulate brain function and behavior, and how blood-brain barrier dysfunction contributes to a wide array of neurological diseases. My vision for the International Brain Barrier Society is to bring together scientists from all over the world, from different career stages and different scientific disciplines, who are all interested in brain barriers, so that they can interact, collaborate and generate lifelong scientific connections. Specifically, the society should support trainees and early career scientists, by giving them a network of both senior scientists and scientists in similar career stages that will aid in navigating all aspects of their burgeoning scientific careers. Of utmost importance to the society is that it is completely open to everyone, no matter what their background or scientific viewpoints, so that we can have open and productive discussions.
