A portrait of Myriam Heiman

Myriam Heiman

John and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Neuroscience
Investigator in The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Research Areas

TRAP, neurotechnology, striatum, CAG, medium spiny neurons, neuronal identity, Huntington's Disease, neurodegeneration, Single Cell Transcriptomics and Epigenomics

Contact Info

Office: 46-4303
Phone: 617-452-3717
Email: mheiman@mit.edu
Website: https://heiman.mit.edu/

Administrative Assistant

Katherine Olson
Email: kjo@mit.edu

The focus of our research group is to understand the molecular basis of nerve cell function and dysfunction in CNS diseases and disorders.  We seek to understand what combination of cell autonomous and non-cell autonomous mechanisms leads to vulnerability in these diseases and disorders, as well as which cell types are most important in considering the actions of CNS-acting drugs such as antipsychotic drugs and addictive drugs.  We focus on the development of genetic, genomic, and biochemical methods for the study of the mammalian nervous system, as well as the study of basal ganglia circuits and their dysfunction in disease.  

TRAP, neurotechnology, striatum, CAG, medium spiny neurons, neuronal identity, Huntington's Disease, neurodegeneration, Single Cell Transcriptomics and Epigenomics

Dr. Heiman’s expertise is in the development of genetic and biochemical methods for the study of the mammalian nervous system, as well as the study of basal ganglia circuits and their dysfunction in disease. She received a B.A. in molecular biology from Princeton University, a Ph.D. in cell biology from the Johns Hopkins University, and post-doctoral training at the Rockefeller University.

  • 2024  - Committed to Caring Award, MIT
  • 2023 - Newton Brain Science Award
  • 2022 - R35 Research Program Award (NIH/NINDS)
  • 2022 - NIH Director's Transformative Research Award
  • 2020 - Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, MIT Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
  • 2017 - Award for Excellence in Graduate Mentoring, 
    MIT Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
  • 2017 - Newton Brain Science Award
  • 2016 - Jeptha H. and Emily V. Wade Award
  • 2016 - Fay/Frank Award, Brain Research Foundation
  • 2015-  EUREKA award, NINDS
  • 2011 - William N. & Bernice E. Bumpus Foundation Early Career Investigator Innovation Award
Featured publications are below. For a full list visit the lab website linked above.

June 15, 2024
The Single-Cell Opioid Responses in the Context of HIV (SCORCH) Consortium
Ament, S., Campbell, R., Lobo, M.K., Receveur, J., Agrawal, K., Borjabad, A., Chang, L., Clarke, D., Cleary, J., Byrareddy, S., Emani, P., Gabuzda, D., Gaulton, K., Giglio, M., Giorgi, F., Gok, B., Guda, C., Hadas, E., Herb, B.R., Hu, W., Huttner, A., Ishmam, M., Jacobs, M., Kelschenbach, J., Kim, D.-W., Lee, C., Liu, X., Liu, S., Madras, B., Mahurkar, A., Mash, D., Mukamel, E., Niu, M., O'Connor, R., Pagan, C., Pang, A., Pillai, P., Repunte-Canonigo, V., Ruzicka, W.R., Stanley, J., Tickle, T., Tsai, S.-Y., Wang, A., Wills, L., Wilson, A., Wright, S., Xu, S., Yang, J., Zand, M., Zhang, L., Zhang, J., Akbarian, S., Buch, S., Cheng, C., Corley, M., Fox, H., Gerstein, M., Gummuluru, S., Heiman, M., Ho, Y.-C., Kellis, M., Kenny, P., Kluger, Y., Milner, T., Moore, D., Morgello, S., Ndhlovu, L., Rana, T., Sanna, P.P., Satterlee, J., Sestan, N., Spector, S., Spudich, S., Tilgner, H., Volsky, D., White, O., Williams, D., and Zeng, H. (2024). Mol. Psychiatry, doi.org/10.1038/s41380-024-02620-7.
May 16, 2024
TDP-43 proteinopathy in ALS is triggered by loss of ASRGL1 and associated with HML-2 expression
Garcia-Montojo, M., Fathi, S., Rastegar C, Simula, E.R., Doucet-O'Hare, T., Cheng, Y.H.H., Abrams, R.P.M., Pasternack, N., Malik, N., Bachani, M., Disanza, B., Maric, D., Lee, M.H., Wang, H., Santamaria, U., Li, W., Sampson, K., Lorenzo, J.R., Sanchez, I.E., Mezghrani, A., Li, Y., Sechi, L.A., Pineda, S., Heiman, M., Kellis, M., Steiner, J., and Nath, A. (2024). Nat Commun., 15(1):4163.
April 11, 2024
Single-cell dissection of the human motor and prefrontal cortices in ALS and FTLD
Pineda, S.S., Lee, H., Ulloa-Navas, M.J., Linville, R.M., Garcia, F.J., Galani, K., Engelberg-Cook, E., Castanedes, M.C., Fitzwalter, B.E., Pregent, L.J., Gardashli, M.E., Morales-Gallel, R., Garcia-Verdugo, J.M., DeTure, M., Vera-Garcia, D.V., Hucke, A.T.S., Oskarsson, B.E., Murray, M.E., Dickson, D.W., Heiman, M., Belzil, V.V., and Kellis, M. (2024). Cell, 187(8):1971-1989.e16.
February 7, 2024
Huntington’s Disease: Pathogenic Mechanisms and Implications for Therapeutics
Editors: X. Yang, W., Thompson, L.M., and Heiman, M. 1st Edition - February 7, 2024; Elsevier; ISBN: 9780323956727
June 22, 2023
Defining diurnal fluctuations in mouse choroid plexus and CSF at high molecular, spatial, and temporal resolution
Fame, R.M., Kalugin, P.N., Petrova, B., Xu, H., Soden, P.A., Shipley, F.B, Dani, N., Grant, B., Pragana, A., Head, J.P., Gupta, S., Shannon, M.L., Chifamba, F.F., Hawks-Mayer, H., Vernon, A., Gao, F., Zhang, Y., Holtzman, M.J., Heiman, M., Andermann, M.L., Kanarek, N., Lipton, J.O., Lehtinen, M.K. (2023). Nat Commun., 14(1):3720.

'Risky' Research

December 20, 2021
Research Feature
How bold new neuroscience research projects get off the ground
Read more

NIH award funds innovative investigation of neurodegenerative motor diseases

October 5, 2021
New Research
Large-scale, integrated application of advanced computational, biological techniques aims to discover mechanisms underlying ALS and frontotemporal lobar degeneration with motor neuron disease
Read more

From Brazil to Fenway Park, researcher strives to save lives with science

September 10, 2021
Picower People
As a researcher studying Huntington’s disease, and as a science communicator working tirelessly to keep Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking communities informed about Covid-19, Izabella Pena is focused on keeping people safe.
Read more

Summer students thrive in Picower labs

August 11, 2021
Picower People
Undergraduates from colleges across the country gain scientific training, mentorship and experience as participants in the MIT Summer Research Program
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Basic cell health systems wear down in Huntington’s disease, novel analysis shows

February 23, 2021
Research Findings
A new computational approach for analyzing complex datasets shows that as disease progresses, neurons and astrocytes lose the ability to maintain homeostasis
Read more

Scientists seek insight into Parkinson’s, addiction by tracking gene expression in the brain

January 4, 2021
New Research
Two MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences faculty members earn funding from the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation
Read more

Genes & Disease

December 14, 2020
Research Feature
Picower scientists are making the dauntingly long but highly motivating climb between associating a gene with disease and developing potential treatments.
Read more

Symposium highlights numerous leads to combat neurodegeneration

September 24, 2020
Recent Events
In 10 talks, leading neuroscientists shared potential advances against Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and other diseases
Read more

Neural vulnerability in Huntington’s disease tied to release of mitochondrial RNA

July 17, 2020
Research Findings
Unique survey of gene expression by cell type in humans and mice reveals several deficits affecting the most vulnerable neurons
Read more

Research highlights immune molecule’s complex role in Huntington’s disease

May 26, 2020
Research Findings
Knocking out the immune cytokine IL-6 exacerbates symptoms in HD model mice, affects neural connection genes
Read more

James Cameron

Graduate Student, MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Audrey Effenberger

FTF Postdoctoral Fellow

Vanessa Farrell

Laboratory Manager

Francisco Garcia

Hereditary Disease Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow

Preston Ge

MD/PhD Student, MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Rajan KC

Postdoctoral Associate

Hyeseung Lee

Postdoctoral Associate

Raleigh Linville

NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein  Individual National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellow

Mayowa Oke

MD/PhD Student, MIT Biology

Sebastian Pineda

Postdoctoral Associate

Suphinya ‘Bee’ Sathitloetsakun

Postdoctoral Associate

Flossie Wan

Graduate Student, MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Charlotte Wang

Graduate Student, MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Jessie Xiao

Graduate Student, MIT Biology

From: https://picower.mit.edu/myriam-heiman