Tarik F. Haydar, PhD
Chair, Anatomy & Neurobiology

Biography
Dr. Haydar received his doctorate at the University of Maryland School of Medicine working on brain development in the Trisomy 16 mouse model of Down syndrome with Dr. Bruce Krueger. He completed postdoctoral studies at Yale University with Dr. Pasko Rakic examining control of forebrain neural precursor development and then started his independent laboratory at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC in 2002. Dr. Haydar joined the Anatomy & Neurobiology Department at BUSM in 2010 where he maintains a vibrant laboratory using state-of-the-art molecular and surgical techniques to study mammalian brain development. Using in utero electroporation, in vivo genetic fate mapping and cell ablation techniques, this project is focused on how the multiple populations of neural stem cells and progenitor cells in the embryonic brain are lineally related and how their combined output leads to proper forebrain development. In addition, the lab is focusing on brain development and function in trisomy mouse models of Down syndrome using cellular, molecular and behavioral techniques. Dr. Haydar’s research is funded by the NIH (NINDS and NICHD).
Other Positions
- Waterhouse Professor, Anatomy & Neurobiology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
- Faculty, National Emerging Infectious Disease Lab, Boston University
- Member, Genome Science Institute, Boston University
- Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students), Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences
Education
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, PhD
- University of Massachusetts Amherst, BS
Publications
- Published on 2/25/2025
Horvath AR, Abdelmalek CM, Park E, Alexander AP, Maheswaran SA, Patel AH, Patel NG, Ruan JE, Adeyemo AT, Li EC, Helmicki KE, Lin S, Wang PC, Li Z, Wang L, Gordish-Dressman HA, Haydar TF, Mansour TA, Kousa YA. A humanized mouse model system mimics prenatal Zika infection and reveals premature differentiation of neural stem cells. bioRxiv. 2025 Feb 25. PMID: 40060457.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/3/2025
Abdelmalek CM, Singh S, Fasil B, Horvath AR, Mulkey SB, Curé C, Campos M, Cavalcanti DP, Tong VT, Mercado M, Daza M, Benavides MM, Acosta J, Gilboa S, Valencia D, Sancken CL, Newton S, Scalabrin DMF, Mussi-Pinhata MM, Vasconcelos Z, Chakhtoura N, Moye J, Leslie EJ, Bulas D, Vezina G, Marques FJP, Leyser M, Del Campo M, Vilain E, DeBiasi RL, Wang T, Nath A, Haydar T, Muenke M, Mansour TA, du Plessis AJ, Murray JC, Cordero JF, Kousa YA. Building a growing genomic repository for maternal and fetal health through the PING Consortium. Pediatr Res. 2025 Jan 03. PMID: 39753885.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 11/29/2024
Li Z, Haydar TF. MuMu: a sample multiplexing protocol for droplet-based simultaneous single nuclei RNA- and ATAC-seq systems. bioRxiv. 2024 Nov 29. PMID: 39651229.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 11/27/2024
Saric N, Atak Z, Sade CF, Reddy N, Bell G, Tolete C, Rajtboriraks MT, Hashimoto-Torii K, Jevtovic-Todorovic V, Haydar TF, Ishibashi N. Ciliopathy interacts with neonatal anesthesia to cause non-apoptotic caspase-mediated motor deficits. bioRxiv. 2024 Nov 27. PMID: 39651246.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 5/25/2024
Abdelmalek CM, Singh S, Fasil B, Horvath AR, Mulkey SB, Curé C, Campos M, Cavalcanti DP, Tong VT, Mercado M, Daza M, Marcela Benavides M, Acosta J, Gilboa S, Valencia D, Sancken CL, Newton S, Scalabrin DMF, Mussi-Pinhata MM, Vasconcelos Z, Chakhtoura N, Moye J, Leslie EJ, Bulas D, Vezina G, Marques FJP, Leyser M, Del Campo M, Vilain E, DeBiasi RL, Wang T, Nath A, Haydar T, Muenke M, Mansour TA, du Plessis AJ, Murray JC, Cordero JF, Kousa YA. Building a growing genomic data repository for maternal and fetal health through the PING Consortium. medRxiv. 2024 May 25. PMID: 38826415.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 9/7/2022
Li Z, Klein JA, Rampam S, Kurzion R, Campbell NB, Patel Y, Haydar TF, Zeldich E. Asynchronous excitatory neuron development in an isogenic cortical spheroid model of Down syndrome. Front Neurosci. 2022; 16:932384. PMID: 36161168.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 8/15/2022
Jablonska B, Adams KL, Kratimenos P, Li Z, Strickland E, Haydar TF, Kusch K, Nave KA, Gallo V. Sirt2 promotes white matter oligodendrogenesis during development and in models of neonatal hypoxia. Nat Commun. 2022 Aug 15; 13(1):4771. PMID: 35970992.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 7/15/2022
Klein JA, Haydar TF. Neurodevelopment in Down syndrome: Concordance in humans and models. Front Cell Neurosci. 2022; 16:941855. PMID: 35910249.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/4/2022
Klein JA, Li Z, Rampam S, Cardini J, Ayoub A, Shaw P, Rachubinski AL, Espinosa JM, Zeldich E, Haydar TF. Sonic Hedgehog Pathway Modulation Normalizes Expression of Olig2 in Rostrally Patterned NPCs With Trisomy 21. Front Cell Neurosci. 2021; 15:794675. PMID: 35058753.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 9/9/2021
Shelton SM, Soucy AR, Kurzion R, Zeldich E, Connor JH, Haydar TF. Forebrain Neural Precursor Cells Are Differentially Vulnerable to Zika Virus Infection. eNeuro. 2021 Sep-Oct; 8(5). PMID: 34272257.
Read at: PubMed
View 65 more publications: View full profile at BUMC