Tallie Z. Baram, MD, PhD
Tallie Z. Baram
Distinguished Professor: Pediatrics, Anatomy/Neurobiology, Neurology, Physiology/Biophysics
D.D. Shepard Professor of Neurological Sciences
University of California – Irvine
Director, Conte Center @ UCI
Project 1 and Operations Core
Personal Statement:
Tallie Z. Baram is the director of the Center. Baram is the Danette Shepard Professor of Neurological Sciences, and a Professor of Pediatrics, Anatomy & Neurobiology, Neurology, and Physiology/Biophysics at the University of California, Irvine. She has been studying the role of early-life experience in brain plasticity, supported by uninterrupted NIH funding, for over 25 years. Baram is trained as a developmental neuroscientist and child neurologist and is experienced in translational Neuroscience. She has focused her efforts on the influence of early-life experiences on the developing brain, and on the underlying mechanisms. She is studying this broad topic in two contexts: a) How early-life seizures, especially those associated with fever, can convert a normal brain into an epileptic one, and b) How early-life experiences including stress and maternal care influence resilience and vulnerability to cognitive and emotional disorders. She has used rodent models and cutting-edge molecular, cellular, epigenetic, and imaging methods to further the understanding of the effects of early-life experience on normal brain function and the contributions of early-life adversity and seizures to neuropsychiatric disorders. Her discoveries have been translational, providing the foundation for an FDA-approved therapy, and for novel clinical imaging approaches. Baram is an internationally recognized leader in studies of cognitive consequences of early-life and ‘modern-life’ stress and the underlying mechanisms, work that has appeared in high-impact journals (Nature Reviews Neurosci; PNAS; Trends Neurosci; J Neurosci; Molec. Psychiat; H factor=80; google scholar). Baram has contributed to NIMH panels and Symposia, chaired the Developmental Brain Disorders NIH study section. Her international reputation has led to presentations in numerous national and international conferences. Baram has the experience and administrative skills for leading funded multi-investigator projects, including the current Conte Center, where cutting-edge human and animal model studies are conducted in harmony.
Baram has a passion and commitment to mentoring including several funded NIH K awardees. Baram’s prior students, from diverse countries and backgrounds, are now contributing independently to academic neuroscience.