Current Positions

1. Associate Professor, Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology
2. Principal Investigator, , Neuroscience Research Program, Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine, Health Sciences Centre
3. Principal Investigator, Program in Biomedical Engineering
4. Principal Investigator, Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba

Education

BSc, Aligarh Muslim University, India
MSc, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences and University of Goettingen
PhD, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences and University of Goettingen

Research Focus

Synapse development, Synaptic plasticity, Molecular logic of neural circuits, Autism spectrum disorder, Schizophrenia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Major Depression.

Research Interests

Synapse organizing proteins coordinate the broad spectrum of processes constituting synapse development, including formation and maintenance of synapses, as well as mediating experience dependent changes in synaptic properties, a phenomenon known as synaptic plasticity. Numerous mutations or copy number variations in genes encoding synapse organizers disrupt synaptic function and increase the risk for neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

The goals of the Siddiqui research program are:
- to determine the molecular mechanisms of synapse development and function in both the developing and mature brain
- to determine the mechanisms governing long lasting changes in synaptic properties (plasticity)
- to determine how synapses are specified and organized in the mammalian brain
- to discover and test regulatory mechanisms governing synaptic function
The Siddiqui lab research program will generate fundamental knowledge of how neuronal circuits form and function and will open untapped lines of inquiry with strong potential to yield novel small molecule therapeutics targeting synapse organizers.