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Ben Barres is a neurobiologist at Stanford University.  His research career has been dedicated towards unraveling the mysterious behind glial cells and their interactions with neurons. His studies have revolutionized the way glial cells, particularly mammalian glia, are seen within the realms of developmental biology and clinical contexts. He became the first openly transgender scientist in the US National Academy of Sciences in 2013. Barres has served not only as a successful member of the Stanford faculty, but also as a respected mentor for his students and postdoctoral fellows.

Education
Dr. Barres obtained a BS degree in biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a medical degree (MD) from Dartmouth Medical School, neurology residency training at Weill Cornell, and a doctorate (PhD) in neurobiology from Harvard University. He did his postdoctoral training at University College London under Martin Raff.

Research
Dr. Barres joined the neurobiology faculty at Stanford University in 1993. Since then his academic appointments have included Professor of Neurobiology, Developmental Biology, Neurology & Neurological Sciences, and (by courtesy) of Ophthalmology. He is also a member the of the Bio-X institute, member of the Child Health Research Institute, a member of the Stanford Neurosciences Institute, and a Faculty Fellow of the Stanford ChEM-H. Dr. Barres was appointed as the Chair of Neurobiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine in 2008 and has served in this position since.

Dr. Barres has authored or co-authored over 160 publications throughout his studies in neuro-biology. His studies have been published in well-known and respected journals such as Nature Neuroscience and Cell.

His research has involved studying mammalian glial cells of the central nervous system (CNS), including the exploration of their function and development.

Some of his earliest work included understanding vertebrate nervous system development including how and why many neurons fail to survive shortly after forming connections with their targets. These studies included understanding how this programmed cell death, apoptosis, occurred in such a tremendous scale. Additionally, he also studied processes such as the prerequisites for and consequences of axon myelination, and the interactions of various signaling molecules such as thyroid-hormone and retinoic acid within the formation of glial cells including oligodendrocytes.

Near the turn of the 21st century he continued his studies of glial cells including understanding the mechanisms behind their ability to generate new neurons. Barres also has studied control of synapses by glia, and the differentiation of astrocytes by endothelial cells. He also investigated the role of the protein Id2 in the control of oligodendrocyte development, primarily by allowing these glia to differentiate at properly regulated times and that removing this protein led to premature oligodendrocyte maturation.

These early investigations allowed Barres to begin to make a name for himself as a pioneer in the studies of glial cells and their importance. Barres discovered early in his time at Stanford just how vital glial cells are in the formation, development, maturation, and regeneration of neurons. Additionally he was able determined glial cells' role in their ability to go beyond nurturing neurons, rather destroying them instead. His lab has also discovered and developed methods for the purification and culturing of retinal ganglion cells and the glial cells in which they interact, including the oligodendrocytes and astrocytes of the optic nerve.

In recent years, Dr. Barres's research has focused on using techniques such as immunopanning, immunohisochemistry, tissue culturing and patch clamping in order to: 1) Understand the cell to cell interactions in the developmental regulation of nodes of Ranvier and myelin sheaths. 2) to what extent glial cells play a role in synapse formation and function of synapses. 3) the determination of signals that promote retinal ganglia growth and survival, and how such knowledge of these signals could be regenerated post-trauma. 4) the functions and developmental mechanisms of gray matter astrocytes. In these objectives, the Barres Lab has discovered quite a number of novel glial signals for the induction of myelination, axonal sodium channel clustering, and synapse formation processes. Additionally, his lab his continuing to characterize these processes and the exact identity of these novel signals.

Awards and honors
In his time at Stanford, Dr. Barres has achieved several academic positions and honors including Chair of the Department of Neurobiology for the Stanford University School of Medicine and has served in this position since 2008. Additionally, he is a Faculty Fellow at Stanford ChEM-H, and a member of Stanford's Bio-X, the Child Health Research Institute, and the Stanford Neurosciences Institute.

His research awards include a Life Sciences Research Fellowship, a McKnight Investigator Award, Klingenstein Fellowship Award, and the Searle Scholar Award. Dr. Barres has also received two Kaiser Awards for his contributions in teaching: the Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Award for Innovative and Outstanding Contributions to Medical Education.