Our lab studies mechanisms that underlie neuronal development and function in the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster. We also develop new technologies to manipulate genes and create the reagents to implement these techniques for most fly genes. As the Drosophila Core of the Model Organisms Screening Center of the Undiagnosed Diseases Network we participate in the discovery of unknown human neurological diseases. Finally, we study the mechanisms of neurodegeneration associated with Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Friedreich Ataxia.
Hugo Bellen is a Distinguished Service Professor at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in the Departments of Molecular and Human Genetics and Neuroscience. Originally from Belgium, Dr. Bellen earned a degree in Business Engineering from the Solvay School of Business at the University of Brussels, a Pre-Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Antwerp and a doctoral degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Ghent. He received his Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of California at Davis and completed postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Walter Gehring at the University of Basel in Switzerland. He was an HHMI Investigator at BCM from 1989-2021 and joined the Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital at its inception in 2011.
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