About

Anis Contractor is the Vice Chair for Faculty Development in the Department of Neuroscience at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He holds the Wendell Krieg Professor of Neuroscience title and is also a professor in the departments of Neuroscience, Psychiatry, and Behavioral Sciences. His research is associated with several institutes and centers, including the Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment, Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS), Northwestern University Institute of Neuroscience (NUIN), Simpson Querrey Institute for Epigenetics, and the Stephen M. Stahl Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience. His work focuses on various areas of neuroscience, contributing to the understanding of brain function and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Research topics

• Neuroscience
• Cell biology
• Biology
• Computer Science
• Psychology
• Developmental psychology
• Medicine
• Pathology
• Biochemistry
• Chemistry

Selected publications

• Cortical interneurons in autism

  Nature Neuroscience · 2021 · 195 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Neuroscience
  • Psychology
  DOI

• Neuronal BIN1 Regulates Presynaptic Neurotransmitter Release and Memory Consolidation

  Cell Reports · 2020 · 117 citations

  • Neuroscience
  • Chemistry
  • Cell biology

  BIN1, a member of the BAR adaptor protein family, is a significant late-onset Alzheimer disease risk factor. Here, we investigate BIN1 function in the brain using conditional knockout (cKO) models. Loss of neuronal Bin1 expression results in the select impairment of spatial learning and memory. Examination of hippocampal CA1 excitatory synapses reveals a deficit in presynaptic release probability and slower depletion of neurotransmitters during repetitive stimulation, suggesting altered vesicle dynamics in Bin1 cKO mice. Super-resolution and immunoelectron microscopy localizes BIN1 to presynaptic sites in excitatory synapses. Bin1 cKO significantly reduces synapse density and alters presynaptic active zone protein cluster formation. Finally, 3D electron microscopy reconstruction analysis uncovers a significant increase in docked and reserve pools of synaptic vesicles at hippocampal synapses in Bin1 cKO mice. Our results demonstrate a non-redundant role for BIN1 in presynaptic regulation, thus providing significant insights into the fundamental function of BIN1 in synaptic physiology relevant to Alzheimer disease.

  DOI

• Pulse-Chase Proteomics of the App Knockin Mouse Models of Alzheimer’s Disease Reveals that Synaptic Dysfunction Originates in Presynaptic Terminals

  Cell Systems · 2020 · 64 citations

  • Biology
  • Cell biology
  • Neuroscience
  DOI

Recent grants

• Chloride homeostasis and GABA maturation in fragile X syndrome

  NIH · $425k · 2015–2017

• NIH Grant R03MH065632

  NIH · $190k · 2004

• NIH Grant R01NS049494

  NIH · $1.2M · 2008

• The role of glutamate receptors in compulsive and perseverative behavior

  NIH · $4.5M · 2012–2023

• Glutamate receptor signaling pathways in the circuit integration of adult-born neurons

  NIH · $2.2M · 2020–2025

Frequent coauthors

• Jian Xu

  39 shared

• Toshihiro Nomura

  26 shared

• Geoffrey T. Swanson

  17 shared

• Bhoom Suktitipat

  Mahidol University

  16 shared

• Henry Sun

  University of Manchester

  16 shared

• Nauder Faraday

  16 shared

• Lewis C. Becker

  Johns Hopkins University

  16 shared

• Michelle R. Shero

  Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

  16 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Neuroscience

  University of California, San Francisco

  1998

• M.D.

  University of California, San Francisco

  1992

• B.A., Psychology

  University of California, Berkeley

  1988

Similar researchers at Northwestern University

• Mercouri G. Kanatzidish-205
• Chad Mirkinh-189
• Omar Farhah-184
• Tobin J. Marksh-176
• Joseph Hupph-171