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.

April 17, 2025
Brain-wide mapping of immune receptors uncovers a neuromodulatory role of IL-17E and the receptor IL-17RB
Yunjin Lee, Tomoe Ishikawa, Hyeseung Lee, Byeongjun Lee, Changhyeon Ryu, Irene Davila Mejia, Minjin Kim, Guangqing Lu, Yujin Hong, Mengyang Feng, Hyeyoon Shin, Sylvain Meloche, Richard M. Locksley, Ekaterina Koltsova, Sergei I. Grivennikov, Myriam Heiman, Gloria B. Choi* and Jun R. Huh* Cell. 2025 Apr 17;188(8):2203-2217
February 26, 2025
Glycocalyx dysregulation impairs blood-brain barrier in ageing and disease
Shi, S.M., Suh, R.J., Shon, D.J., Garcia, F.J., Buff, J.K., Atkins, M., Li, L., Lu, N., Sun, B., Luo, J., McNerney, M.W., Heiman, M., Bertozzi, C.R., and Wyss-Coray, T. (2025). Nature, 639(8056):985-994.
January 24, 2025
SLC25A38 is required for mitochondrial pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) accumulation
Pena I.A., Shi J.S., Chang S.M., Yang J., Block S., Adelmann C.H., Keys H.R., Ge P., Bathla S., Witham I.H., Sienski G., Nairn A.C., Sabatini D.M., Lewis C.A., Kory N., Vander Heiden M.G., and Heiman M. (2025). Nat Commun., 16(1):978.
January 22, 2025
Defining genes and pathways that modify huntingtin CAG repeat somatic instability in vivo
Sathitloetsakun S. and Heiman M. (2025). Nat Genet., 57(2):281-282.
December 3, 2024
Opportunities and challenges of single-cell and spatially resolved genomics methods for neuroscience discovery
Bonev B., Castelo-Branco G., Chen F., Codeluppi S., Corces M.R., Fan J., Heiman M., Harris K., Inoue F., Kellis M., Levine A., Lotfollahi M., Luo C., Maynard K.R., Nitzan M., Ramani V., Satijia R., Schirmer L., Shen Y., Sun N., Green G.S., Theis F., Wang X., Welch J.D., Gokce O., Konopka G., Liddelow S., Macosko E., Ali Bayraktar O,. Habib N., and Nowakowski T.J. (2024). Nat Neurosci., 27(12):2292-2309.

A neuron’s neighbors

March 14, 2025
Research Feature
The field is called neuroscience, but neurons alone can’t operate your brain. Research is revealing how non-neural cells indispensably contribute to function, and why their roles can make them promising treatment targets in disease.
Read more

Learning the secrets of neural longevity could benefit the aging brain and body alike, research project posits

October 3, 2024
New Research
With a new Glenn Foundation Discovery Award, the Heiman Lab will study the genetic and molecular basis for the exceptional longevity of neurons in hopes of using that insight to help sustain aging cells.
Read more

Movement disorder ALS and cognitive disorder FTLD show strong molecular overlaps, new study shows

March 22, 2024
Research Findings
Single-cell gene expression patterns in the brain’s motor and frontal cortex, and evidence from follow-up experiments, reveal many shared cellular and molecular similarities that could be targeted for potential treatment
Read more

'Cellf' Expression

December 20, 2023
Research Feature
Picower Institute scientists are using single cell genomics techniques to measure gene expression and produce unque insights into nervous system biology and disease
Read more

New grant to study possibility of an immunotherapy for autism

November 2, 2023
New Research
Picower Institute-based collaboration will study mechanisms that might enable peripheral immune cells to deliver a potentially therapeutic molecule to the brain.
Read more

Petite & Profound

June 22, 2023
Research Feature
Why studying simple organisms—none larger than the palm of your hand—is so integral to understanding nervous system health, disease and evolution.
Read more

Immune & Inflamed

March 1, 2023
Research Feature
Neuroscientists are finding that immune system activity within the brain and the body has important impacts on mental health and behavior
Read more

How Huntington’s disease affects different neurons

January 20, 2023
Research Findings
A new study identifies cells that are the most vulnerable within a brain structure involved in mood and movement
Read more

NIH award to help Heiman unearth roots of Huntington’s pathology

May 26, 2022
New Research
Research Program Award will fund studies to find early triggers of disease progression
Read more

A new “atlas” of cells that carry blood to the brain

February 14, 2022
Research Findings
Single-cell gene expression analyses of human cerebrovascular cells can help reveal new drug targets for Huntington’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.
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