Kenneth Kwan
Associate Professor of Human Genetics and Research
Associate Professor
Michigan Neuroscience Institute
Medical School
[email protected]

Available to mentor

Kenneth Kwan
Research Associate Professor
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    Qualifications
    • Ph.D.
      Yale University
    • B.Sc.
      University of Waterloo
    Center Memberships
    • Center Member
      Center for Cell Plasticity and Organ Design
    Research Overview

    Research in the Kwan laboratory is aimed at the genetic mechanisms that underlie neural development and circuit assembly in the cerebral cortex, and their dysregulation in human neurodevelopmental disorders, in particular autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability, and schizophrenia. We specialize in unraveling the mechanistic underpinnings of fundamental and pathogenic developmental processes in vivo. Our three overarching goals are to understand: 1) the mechanisms by which neural progenitor cells (NPCs) give rise to diverse cortical cell types; 2) the mechanisms by which cortical neurons are wired into functional neural circuits; and 3) how dysregulation of these mechanisms contribute to disorders of brain development. We use an integrative approach at the interface of molecular biology, functional genomics, genome-editing, mouse genetics, and circuit neurobiology. With the accelerating pace of genetic discoveries, we are ideally positioned to functionally characterize genes associated with brain disorders, and uncover the mechanisms by which gene mutations contribute to disease in vivo.

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    Recent Publications See All Publications
    • Journal Article
      Single-nucleus transcriptomics reveals time-dependent and cell-type-specific effects of psilocybin on gene expression.
      Liao C, O'Farrell E, Qalieh Y, Savalia NK, Girgenti MJ, Kwan KY, Kwan AC. bioRxiv, 2025 Jan 4; DOI:10.1101/2025.01.04.631335
      PMID: PMC11722411
    • Journal Article
      Mapping recurrent mosaic copy number variation in human neurons
      Sun C, Kathuria K, Emery SB, Kim BJ, Burbulis IE, Shin JH, Gleeson JG, Breuss MW, Yang X, Antaki D, Chung C, Averbuj D, Ball LL, Roy S, Weinberger D, Jaffe A, Paquola A, Erwin J, Straub R, Narurkar R, Mathern G, Walsh CA, Lee A, Huang AY, D’Gama A, Dias C, Maury E, Ganz J, Lodato M, Miller M, Li P, Rodin R, Borges-Monroy R, Hill R, Bizzotto S, Khoshkhoo S, Kim S, Zhou Z, Park PJ, Barton A, Galor A, Chu C, Bohrson C, Gulhan D, Lim E, Lim E, Melloni G, Cortes I, Lee J, Luquette J, Yang L, Sherman M, Coulter M, Kwon M, Lee S, Lee S, Viswanadham V, Dou Y, Chess AJ, Jones A, Rosenbluh C, Akbarian S, Langmead B, Thorpe J, Cho S, Abyzov A, Bae T, Jang Y, Wang Y, Molitor C, Peters M, Gage FH, Wang M, Reed P, Linker S, Urban A, Zhou B, Pattni R, Zhu X, Amero AS, Juan D, Povolotskaya I, Lobon I, Moruno MS, Perez RG, Marques-Bonet T, Soriano E, Moran JV, Flasch DA, Frisbie TJ, Kopera HC, Moldovan JB, Kwan KY, Mills RE, Zhou W, Zhao X, Ratan A, Vaccarino FM, Cherskov A, Jourdon A, McConnell M. Nature Communications, 2025 Mar 3; 15 (1): DOI:10.1038/s41467-024-48392-0
    • Journal Article
      Somatic mosaicism in schizophrenia brains reveals prenatal mutational processes
      Sunyaev SR, Bizzotto S, Coulter M, Dias C, D'Gama A, Ganz J, Hill R, Huang AY, Khoshkhoo S, Kim S, Lee A, Lodato M, Maury E, Miller M, Borges-Monroy R, Rodin R, Walsh CA, Zhou Z, Bohrson C, Chu C, Cortes-Ciriano I, Dou Y, Galor A, Gulhan D, Kwon M, Luquette J, Park P, Sherman M, Viswanadham V, Akbarian S, Chess A, Jones A, Rosenbluh C, Cho S, Langmead B, Pevsner J, Thorpe J, Erwin J, Jaffe A, McConnell M, Narurkar R, Paquola A, Shin J, Straub R, Weinberger D, Abyzov A, Bae T, Jang Y, Molitor C, Peters M, Gage F, Linker S, Reed P, Wang M, Urban A, Zhou B, Zhu X, Pattni R, Serres Amero A, Juan D, Lobon I, Marques-Bonet T, Solis Moruno M, Garcia Perez R, Povolotskaya I, Soriano E, Mathern G, Antaki D, Averbuj D, Ball L, Breuss M, Courchesne E, Gleeson J, Yang X, Chung C, Emery SB, Flasch DA, Kidd JM, Kopera HC, Kwan KY, Mills RE, Moldovan JB, Moran JV, Sun C, Zhao X, Zhou W, Frisbie TJ, Wang Y, Cherskov A, Fasching L, Jourdon A, Pochareddy S, Scuderi S, Sestan N, Vaccarino F. Science, 2024 Oct 11; 386 (6718): 217 - 224. DOI:10.1126/science.adq1456
      PMID: 39388546
    • Journal Article
      Development and Evolution of Thalamocortical Connectivity
      Molnár Z, Kwan KY. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 2024 Jan 1; 16 (1): DOI:10.1101/cshperspect.a041503
      PMID: 38167425
    • Journal Article
      Genomic data resources of the Brain Somatic Mosaicism Network for neuropsychiatric diseases
      Garrison MKA, Jang Y, Bae T, Cherskov A, Emery SB, Fasching L, Jones A, Moldovan JB, Molitor C, Pochareddy S, Peters MA, Shin JH, Wang Y, Yang X, Akbarian S, Chess A, Gage FH, Gleeson JG, Kidd JM, McConnell M, Mills RE, Moran JV, Park PJ, Sestan N, Urban AE, Vaccarino FM, Walsh CA, Weinberger DR, Wheelan SJ, Abyzov A, Amero AS, Antaki D, Averbuj D, Ball L, Bizzotto S, Bohrson C, Borges-Monroy R, Breuss M, Cho S, Chu C, Chung C, Cortes-Ciriano I, Coulter M, Daily K, Dias C, D’Gama A, Dou Y, Erwin J, Flasch DA, Frisbie TJ, Galor A, Ganz J, Gulhan D, Hill R, Huang AY, Jaffe A, Jourdon A, Juan D, Khoshkhoo S, Kim S, Kopera HC, Kwan KY, Kwon M, Langmead B, Lee EA, Linker S, Lobon I, Lodato MA, Luquette LJ, Mathern G, Marques-Bonet T, Maury EA, Miller M, Moruno MS, Narurkar R, Paquola A, Pattni R, Perez RG, Povolotskaya I, Reed P, Rodin R, Rosenbluh C, Scuderi S, Sherman M, Straub R, Soriano E, Sun C, Thorpe J, Viswanadham V, Wang M, Zhao X, Zhou B, Zhou W, Zhou Z, Zhu X. Scientific Data, 2024 May 13; 10 (1): DOI:10.1038/s41597-023-02645-7
    • Journal Article
      Author Correction: Machine learning reveals bilateral distribution of somatic L1 insertions in human neurons and glia (Nature Neuroscience, (2021), 24, 2, (186-196), 10.1038/s41593-020-00767-4)
      Zhu X, Zhou B, Pattni R, Gleason K, Tan C, Kalinowski A, Sloan S, Fiston-Lavier AS, Mariani J, Petrov D, Barres BA, Duncan L, Abyzov A, Vogel H, Zhu X, Urban A, Walsh C, Ganz J, Woodworth M, Li P, Rodin R, Hill R, Bizzotto S, Zhou Z, Lee A, D’Gama A, Galor A, Bohrson C, Kwon D, Gulhan D, Lim E, Cortes I, Luquette J, Sherman M, Coulter M, Lodato M, Park P, Monroy R, Kim S, Dou Y, Chess A, Jones A, Rosenbluh C, Akbarian S, Langmead B, Thorpe J, Pevsner J, Scharpf R, Cho S, Vaccarino F, Fasching L, Tomasi S, Sestan N, Pochareddy S, Jaffe A, Paquola A, Weinberger D, Erwin J, Shin J, Straub R, Narurkar R, Addington A, Panchision D, Meinecke D, Senthil G, Bingaman L, Dutka T, Lehner T, Abyzov A, Bae T, Saucedo-Cuevas L, Conniff T, Flasch DA, Frisbie TJ, Kidd JM, Lam MM, Moldovan JB, Moran JV, Kwan KY, Mills RE, Emery S, Zhou W, Wang Y, Daily K, Peters M, Gage F, Wang M, Reed P, Linker S, Sarkar A, Serres A, Juan D, Povolotskaya I, Lobon I, Solis M, Garcia R, Marques-Bonet T, Mathern G, Gu J. Nature Neuroscience, 2023 Oct 1; 26 (10): 1833 DOI:10.1038/s41593-023-01438-w
      PMID: 37648813
    • Journal Article
      Author Correction: The landscape of somatic mutation in cerebral cortex of autistic and neurotypical individuals revealed by ultra-deep whole-genome sequencing (Nature Neuroscience, (2021), 24, 2, (176-185), 10.1038/s41593-020-00765-6)
      Rodin RE, Dou Y, Kwon M, Sherman MA, D’Gama AM, Doan RN, Rento LM, Girskis KM, Bohrson CL, Kim SN, Nadig A, Luquette LJ, Gulhan DC, Walsh CA, Ganz J, Woodworth MB, Li P, Hill RS, Bizzotto S, Zhou Z, Lee EA, Barton AR, Galor A, Kwon D, Lim ET, Cortes IC, Luquette LJ, Sherman MA, Coulter ME, Lodato MA, Park PJ, Monroy RB, Kim SN, Dou Y, Chess A, Gulyás-Kovács A, Rosenbluh C, Akbarian S, Ben Langmead , Thorpe J, Pevsner J, Cho S, Jaffe AE, Paquola A, Weinberger DR, Erwin JA, Shin JH, Straub RE, Narurkar R, Abyzov AS, Bae T, Addington A, Panchision D, Meinecke D, Senthil G, Bingaman L, Dutka T, Lehner T, Saucedo-Cuevas L, Conniff T, Daily K, Peters M, Gage FH, Wang M, Reed PJ, Linker SB, Urban AE, Zhou B, Zhu X, Serres A, Juan D, Povolotskaya I, Lobón I, Solis-Moruno M, García-Pérez R, Marquès-Bonet T, Mathern GW, Gu J, Gleeson JG, Ball LL, George RD, Pramparo T, Flasch DA, Frisbie TJ, Kidd JM, Moldovan JB, Moran JV, Kwan KY, Mills RE, Emery SB, Zhou W, Wang Y, Ratan A, McConnell MJ, Vaccarino FM, Coppola G. Nature Neuroscience, 2024 May 10; 26 (10): 1833 - 1833. DOI:10.1038/s41593-023-01437-x
    • Journal Article
      Distinct microtubule networks mediate neuronal migration and polarization
      Njoku IP, Kwan KY. Neuron, 2023 Apr 19; 111 (8): 1168 - 1170. DOI:10.1016/j.neuron.2023.03.026
      PMID: 37080166