Shernaz Bamji

Biography: Shernaz Bamji is a Professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC)  in Canada and the current co-Director of the Center for Brain Health at UBC. She is also the Past President of the Canadian Association for Neurosciences. Dr. Bamji earned her PhD at McGill University in Dr Freda Miller’s lab studying the role of BDNF in neuron survival and death. She then moved to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) where she did her postdoctoral fellowship with Dr Louis Reichardt to determine the role of cadherin adhesion molecules at the synapse.  

Dr. Bamji has a long-standing interest in understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying brain development and neuronal connectivity. Her work has provided valuable information about fundamental mechanisms underlying learning and memory, as well as how these processes are perturbed in diseased states. Her lab primarily focuses on the role of S-acylation, particularly the role of palmitoyl-acyl-transferases, in brain development and function. Her work has highlighted the importance of these enzymes in the regulation of neuronal outgrowth as well as synapse formation and function. She has also demonstrated how genetic disruptions in these enzymes can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, intellectual disability, schizophrenia and epilepsy.