Marc R. Freeman, Ph.D.
- Professor, Vollum Institute
- Director and Senior Scientist, Vollum Institute
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, School of Medicine
Biography
Marc Freeman is director of the Vollum Institute. He earned his B.S. in Biology from Eastern Connecticut State University in 1993. He carried out his doctoral training in the laboratory of John Carlson at Yale University and obtained his Ph.D. in Biology in 1999. Freeman trained as a postdoctoral associate with Chris Q. Doe at the University of Oregon from 1999–2004. He started his laboratory in the Department of Neurobiology at The University of Massachusetts Medical School in 2004, focusing on glia-neuron interactions in the healthy and diseased brain. In 2016, Freeman joined the Vollum Institute.
Neurons are not alone in the nervous system; glial cells constitute the majority of the cells in the human brain. Despite their abundance, surprisingly little is known about how glia develop or function in the mature nervous system. The Freeman Lab uses the fruit fly Drosophila as a model to explore fundamental aspects of glial cell biology. Defining the precise roles that glia play will be a crucial step if we wish to understand how the nervous system is assembled, functions to drive animal behavior, and is maintained in a healthy state for the life of an animal.
Education and training
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Degrees
- B.S., 1993, Eastern Connecticut State University
- Ph.D., 1999, Yale University
Areas of interest
- glia
- axon
- Wallerian degeneration
- neuron-glia signaling
- astrocytes
- neurodegeneration
- Drosophila
Additional information
Honors and awards
- Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow (2005)
- Early Career Scientist Award, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2009)
- Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2013-2016)
Publications
Publications
Astrocyte growth is driven by the Tre1/S1pr1 phospholipid-binding G protein-coupled receptor
NeuronGlial Regulation of Circuit Wiring, Firing, and Expiring in the Drosophila Central Nervous System
Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in BiologyGlial TGFβ activity promotes neuron survival in peripheral nerves
Journal of Cell BiologyAstrocytic GABA transporter controls sleep by modulating GABAergic signaling in Drosophila circadian neurons
Current BiologyDiscoidin domain receptor regulates ensheathment, survival and caliber of peripheral axons
Development (Cambridge)An ELISA-based method for rapid genetic screens in Drosophila
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of AmericaAstrocytes close a motor circuit critical period
NatureGenetic diversity of axon degenerative mechanisms in models of Parkinson's disease
Neurobiology of DiseaseInjury-Induced Inhibition of Bystander Neurons Requires dSarm and Signaling from Glia
NeuronTSG101 negatively regulates mitochondrial biogenesis in axons
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of AmericaLive-imaging of astrocyte morphogenesis and function in zebrafish neural circuits
Nature NeuroscienceTrpml-mediated astrocyte microdomain ca2+ transients regulate astrocyte-tracheal interactions
eLifeGlutathione S-Transferase Regulates Mitochondrial Populations in Axons through Increased Glutathione Oxidation
NeuronNeural JNK3 regulates blood flow recovery after hindlimb ischemia in mice via an Egr1/Creb1 axis
Nature communicationsPolymodal Nociception in Drosophila Requires Alternative Splicing of TrpA1
Current BiologyFocal adhesion molecules regulate astrocyte morphology and glutamate transporters to suppress seizure-like behavior
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of AmericaLoss of Sarm1 does not suppress motor neuron degeneration in the SOD1G93A mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Human molecular geneticsTranscription factor Pebbled/RREB1 regulates injury-induced axon degeneration
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of AmericaAxon Death Pathways Converge on Axundead to Promote Functional and Structural Axon Disassembly
NeuronAxon degeneration induces glial responses through Draper-TRAF4-JNK signalling
Nature communicationsThe secreted neurotrophin spätzle 3 promotes glial morphogenesis and supports neuronal survival and function
Genes and DevelopmentAttenuated traumatic axonal injury and improved functional outcome after traumatic brain injury in mice lacking Sarm1
BrainNeuromodulators signal through astrocytes to alter neural circuit activity and behaviour
NaturePrevalent presence of periodic actin-spectrin-based membrane skeleton in a broad range of neuronal cell types and animal species
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of AmericaAge-dependent TDP-43-mediated motor neuron degeneration requires GSK3, hat-trick, and xmas-2
Current Biology