The Poduri Laboratory was launched in 2013 within the Department of Neurology and F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. Our translational Epilepsy Genetics Program encompasses human genetics research in epilepsy in parallel with bench laboratory research on genetic epilepsies.

Our ongoing gene discovery efforts and genotype-phenotype research inform our genetic epilepsy models. Our lab uses the zebrafish model system to study known and candidate epilepsy genes. We utilize transgenic zebrafish as functional models of seizures and related neurodevelopmental phenotypes. With bidirectional feedback between our clinical research team and bench laboratory research team, we are establishing a sustainable paradigm for high-throughput translational research in genetic epilepsy, with the ultimate goal of a targeted, “precision medicine” approach to the treatment of epilepsy in all patients. To that end, we are interested in evaluating models across several platforms, and we are collaborating with other laboratories to pursue models of some key epilepsy-related genes in mouse and in iPSC-derived neurons.