Miklos Toth

Miklos Toth is a Professor of Pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medicine's Graduate School of Medical Sciences, where he holds dual appointments in both the Pharmacology and Neuroscience Programs. His research bridges molecular pharmacology, epigenetics, and behavioral neuroscience with a focus on understanding how environmental challenges influence brain function and behavior through epigenetic mechanisms. He directs an active research laboratory investigating the molecular basis of neuropsychiatric disorders and has established himself as a leading figure in the field of environmental epigenetics.

Education:

• Ph.D., Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Hungary), 1985
• M.D., Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Medical School (Hungary), 1977

Dr. Toth's research focuses on how the nervous system registers and responds to environmental challenges including adversity, social isolation, and drug exposure at epigenetic and behavioral levels. His laboratory has identified thousands of small epigenomic regions in neurons that respond to environmental challenges by altering gene regulatory activity, producing adaptive or maladaptive transcriptional, neuronal, and behavioral responses. His work has important implications for understanding depression, anxiety, and drug abuse disorders. Using mouse models and techniques including high-throughput DNA methylation profiling, single-cell RNA expression, neuronal physiology, and behavioral assays, his lab aims to identify pharmacological targets that enhance adaptive and alleviate maladaptive behaviors.

His recent publications reveal consistent themes in transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, maternal programming of offspring behavior through immune factors, and the molecular mechanisms linking environmental stressors to neuropsychiatric conditions. The research demonstrates how specific epigenetic modifications serve as molecular memory of environmental exposures with lasting behavioral consequences.

Scientific Awards:

• Alexander von Humboldt Fellow (Germany), 1988-1990
• Associate of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 1990-1992
• NARSAD Investigator, 1996 and 2003
• FRAXA Foundation Investigator, 2003 and 2004
• EUREKA grant recipient, 2009 and 2013

Dr. Toth currently mentors graduate students in both the Pharmacology and Neuroscience Graduate Programs at Weill Cornell. His research is supported by significant NIH funding, including a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism grant as Co-Investigator (2024-2029) studying estrogen signaling in alcohol drinking behavior, and a National Institute of Child Health & Human Development grant as Principal Investigator (2023-2025) investigating how maternal milk cytokines program adult social behavior. His laboratory continues to explore the fundamental principles behind environmentally induced epigenetic adaptation and maladaptation of the phenotype.

The Toth Lab, located at 525 E. 68th St. Whitney Pavilion, Floor 5, New York, NY, maintains an active research program with current projects focused on environmentally sensitive transcriptional enhancers, epigenomic registration of environmental clues, and epigenomic states of adaptive and maladaptive behavior. The lab's interactive research diagram highlights their investigation into how environmental effects lead to common diseases through epigenetic mechanisms that do not involve changes in DNA sequence.