Jane Dodd

Jane Dodd, PhD, is a Professor of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics and Professor of Neuroscience at Columbia University, where she also serves as Vice Chairman of the Department of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics and Co-Director of the Physiology Graduate Program. Her research investigates molecular and cellular mechanisms governing neural development, with a focus on axon guidance, neural tube patterning, and signaling pathways.

Research Interests: Dr. Dodd's work explores how environmental cues direct axon pathfinding in the developing spinal cord, emphasizing roles of the roof plate and floor plate. Key areas include:

• Chemorepellent signaling in dorsal-ventral axon navigation
• BMP and Sonic hedgehog pathways in cell specification
• Inductive signals from axial mesoderm for neural patterning
• Molecular controls of commissural neuron trajectories

Her publications consistently address neural development themes, with recent work emphasizing BMP signaling dynamics in spinal neurons and earlier studies establishing foundational principles of axon guidance. Analysis reveals sustained focus on: axon repulsion/attraction mechanisms, BMP receptor functionality, transcription factor regulation in neural circuits, and evolutionary conservation of guidance cues.

Awards & Honors:

• MRC Research Fellow (1976-1979)
• Harkness Fellow, Commonwealth Foundation (1979-1981)
• Sloan Research Fellow, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (1981-1983)
• McKnight Foundation Scholar (1985-1988)
• Irma T Hirschl Career Scientist (1986-1990)
• Klingenstein Fund Fellow (1988-1991)
• McKnight Neuroscience Development Award (1994-1997)

She leads a research group studying neural development using in vitro assays, molecular markers, and genetic approaches. While specific grants and advisees are unmentioned, her lab contributions are frequently acknowledged in multi-author publications on neural patterning.