Franck Polleux, PhD

Franck Polleux, PhD

Research Interest

Synapses and Circuits
Axon Pathfinding and Synaptogenesis
Cell Specification and Differentiation
Cellular, Molecular and Developmental Neuroscience
  • July 2010 to October 2013: Professor, The Scripps Research Institute- La Jolla, CA.  Dorris Neuroscience Center
  • July 2008 to June 2010: Associate Professor,  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Neuroscience Center, Department of Pharmacology
  • October 2002 to July 2008: Assistant Professor,  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Neuroscience Center, Department of Pharmacology
  • April 2000 to Sept. 2002: Research Investigator,  INSERM (French National Institute of Health) U371 - France
  • June 1997 to April 2000: Post-doctoral scholar,  Laboratory of Anirvan Ghosh, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine Baltimore, MD (USA)
  • 1993-1997  Graduate Training Award from the French Ministry of Research and Technology
  • 1999  Albert L. Lehninger Research Prize for Post-doctoral Research - Johns Hopkins University
  • 2000-2001  INSERM-CFB award for a European collaborative project with the group of Dr Vanderhaeghen, University of Brussels –Belgium.
  • 2004-2007  March of Dimes Birth Defect Foundation Award
  • 2005-2009 Pew Scholar Award in Biomedical Sciences
  • 2005-2007  NARSAD Young Investigator Award
  • 2007-2009 NARSAD Young Investigator Award
  • 2008-2012  Permanent member on NIH Study Section Neuronal Differentiation, Plasticity and Regeneration (NDPR)
  • 2010-2012  Co-Chair (2010) and Chair (2012) Gordon Conference, Neural Development - Salve Regina, RI
  • 2012  Member of the Editorial Board of PLoS Biology
  • 2015 Recipient of the 2015 Prize from the Fondation Roger de Spoelberch in Neuroscience (Scientific award for mid-career neuroscientists)
  • Justin O’Hare, Postdoc
  • Carlos Diaz Salazar Albeda, Postdoc
  • Martina Proietti Onori, Postdoc
  • Emiliano Zamponi, Postdoc
  • Kevin Gonzalez, Graduate student (NBB)
  • Stevie Hamilton, Graduate student (NBB)
  • Daniel Virga, Graduate student (Biology)
  • Sergio Bernal-Garcia, Graduate student (Biology)
  • Aleks Recupero, Graduate student (MD-PhD)

Attila Losonczy, Associtate Professor, Dept Neuroscience - Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute. Columbia University

O'Hare, J.K., Gonzalez, K.C., Herrlinger, S.A., Hirabayashi, Y., Hewitt, V.L., Blockus, H., Szoboszlay, M., Rolotti, S.V., Geiller, T.C., Negrean, A., Chelur, V., Polleux, F.*, and Losonczy, A.* (2022). Compartment-specific tuning of dendritic feature selectivity by intracellular Ca2+ release. Science 375, eabm1670.  * Co-senior and co-corresponding authors

Schmidt E.R.E, Zhao H.T., Park J.M., Dipoppa M., Monsalve-Mercado M.M., Dahan J.B., Rodgers C.C., Hillman E.M.C., Miller K.D., Bruno R.M. and Polleux F. (2021) A human-specific modifier of cortical connectivity and circuit function. Nature.  599(7886):640-644.

Blockus H., Rolotti S.V., Szoboszlay M., Ming, T., Schroeder A., Vennekens K., Katsamba P., Bahan F., Mannepalli S., Ahlsen G., Honig B., Shapiro L., de Wit J., Lonsonczy A. and Polleux F. (2021) Synaptogenic activity of the axon guidance molecule Robo2 is critical for hippocampal circuit function. Cell Reports. 37(3):109828.

Izadifar A*, Courchet, J* #, Virga D.M., Verreet T., Hamilton S., Ayaz D., Misbaer A., Vandenbogaerde S., Monteiro L., Petrovic M., Sachse S., Yan B., Erfurth M.-L., Dascenco D., Kise Y., Yan J., Edwards-Faret G., Lewis T.L. Jr, Polleux F. # and Schmucker D.# (2021) Axon morphogenesis and maintenance require an evolutionary conserved safeguard function of Wnk kinases antagonizing Sarm and Axed. Neuron Sep 15;109(18):2864-2883.  * Co-first authors.  # Co-corresponding authors.

Iascone D.M., Li Y., Sumbul U., Doron M., Chen H., Andreu V., Goudy F., Segev I., Peng H. and Polleux F. (2020) Whole-Neuron Synaptic Mapping Reveals Spatially Precise Excitatory/Inhibitory Balance Limiting Dendritic and Somatic Spiking. Neuron. 106(4):566-578. 

Lewis, T.L.*, Kwon SK.*, Lee A., Shaw and Polleux F. (2018) MFF-dependent mitochondrial fission regulates presynaptic release and axon branching by limiting axonal mitochondria size.  Nature Comm.  9:5008. * Co-first authors.

Hirabayashi Y.*, Kwon S-K.*,  Paek H., Pernice W.M., Paul M.A., Lee J., Erfani P., Raczkowski A., Petrey D.S., Pon L. A. and Polleux F. (2017) ER-mitochondria tethering by PDZD8 regulates Ca2+ dynamics in mammalian neurons. Science 358(6363):623-630. * Co-first authors.

Fossati M, Pizzarelli R, Schmidt ER, Kupferman JV, Stroebel D, Polleux F*, Charrier C*. (2016) SRGAP2 and Its Human-Specific Paralog Co-Regulate the Development of Excitatory and Inhibitory Synapses. Neuron. 91(2):356-69. * Co-corresponding authors.

Charrier C.*, Joshi K. *, Coutinho-Budd J., Kim, J-E., Lambert N., de Marchena, J., Jin W-L., Vanderhaeghen P., Ghosh A., Sassa T, and Polleux F. (2012) Inhibition of SRGAP2 function by its human-specific paralogs induces neoteny of spine maturation. Cell 149:923-935. * Co-first authors.

For a complete list of publications, please visit PubMed.gov