Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
Phone: (+974) 4492 8349
Dr. Benjamin Shykind joined Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) in January 2010. He received an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Columbia College, Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to arriving in Doha, Dr. Shykind conducted post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Richard Axel in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics of the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Dr. Shykind is a molecular biologist with a long-standing interest in gene regulation. Currently his research is focused on understanding the generation of neuronal cell diversity. Using the olfactory system as a model, he has elucidated fundamental aspects of transcriptional control of the odorant receptors, that largest gene family in mammals.
- Shykind B M, Rohani S C, O’Donnell S, Nemes A, Mendelsohn M, Sun Y, Axel R, Barnea G. Gene switching and the stability of odorant receptor gene choice. Cell 2004; 117: 801- 815.
- Shykind B M. Regulation of Odorant Receptors: One Allele at a Time. Hum. Mol. Gen. 2005; 14: R1. 33-39.
- Fleischmann* A, Shykind* B M, Sosulski D L, Franks K M, Glinka M E, Mei D F, Sun Y, Kirkland J, Mendelsohn M, Albee with a “Monoclonal Nose”: Perturbations in an Olfactory Map Impair Odor Discrimination. Neuron 2rs M W, Axel R. Mic008; 60: 1068-1081.
*Equal first-authorship
