Carlos Portera-Cailliau

Carlos Portera-Cailliau is a Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), with joint appointments in the Departments of Neurology and Neurobiology. He co-directs the UCLA-Caltech Medical Scientist Training Program and is affiliated with UCLA’s Brain Research Institute, Integrated Center for Learning & Memory, and Neuroscience Theme.

Dr. Portera-Cailliau earned a B.A. in Biochemistry & Cell Biology from UC San Diego (1990), followed by an MD-PhD from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (1997). After neurology residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham & Women’s Hospital (2001), he conducted postdoctoral research at Columbia University and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

The Portera-Cailliau laboratory employs a symptom-to-circuit approach to study neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and Fragile X syndrome. Key research areas include sensory hypersensitivity, neuronal connectivity, and synaptic plasticity, using in vivo two-photon calcium imaging, patch-clamp electrophysiology, and head-fixed behavioral assays. Recent work explores GABAA receptor roles in cortical development and EPAC2 as a therapeutic target in Fragile X mice.

Publications highlight neurodevelopmental circuit defects, excitation-inhibition imbalance, and interventions to restore plasticity in autism and Fragile X models. His lab also develops open-source tools like EZcalcium for calcium imaging analysis.

Dr. Portera-Cailliau’s affiliations include UCLA’s Brain Research Institute, Integrated Center for Learning & Memory, and Neuroscience Theme. His research integrates behavioral assays, optogenetics, and chemogenetics to identify therapies for neuropsychiatric conditions.