Jamee Mae Berg

Dr. Jamee Mae Berg has a broad range of experience studying neurodevelopmental disorders, specifically Cayman ataxia, speech and language disorders, and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). After obtaining her B.S. from the University of Michigan, Dr. Berg helped discover the genetic basis of Cayman ataxia and was part of a research team that furthered the understanding of human language by identifying brain expression networks associated with human-specific variants in Forkhead box protein P2 (FOXP2), a molecule implicated in speech and language. Following this, Dr. Berg conducted her Ph.D. research at the University of California, Los Angeles under the mentorship of Dr. Daniel Geschwind. Dr. Berg’s Ph.D. research focused on janus kinase and microtubule interacting protein-1 (JAKMIP1), a protein dysregulated across various forms of ASD. She found JAKMIP1 to be a novel regulator of neuronal translation, modulating synaptic function and autistic-like behaviors in mice. For this research, Dr. Berg was awarded the Eva Kavan Brain Research Institute Award. Dr. Berg’s postdoctoral fellowship and staff scientist position at the University of California, Los Angeles, continued to focus on JAKMIP1, but also included the behavioral profiling of mice overexpressing cytoplasmic FMR1 interacting protein-1 (CYFIP1), a gene implicated in autism and schizophrenia. Dr. Berg has over 15 years of experience in neuroscience research, with extensive training in genetics, proteomics, cell culture, mouse behavior, and bioinformatics. Dr. Berg is published in high-ranking journals including Nature, Nature Genetics, and Neuron. Fun fact, Dr. Berg is also an award-winning recording artist ("Jamee Mae") and author of three children's books. Dr. Berg is thrilled to be integrating her lifelong commitment to science and music by studying the science of music under the mentorship of Dr. Reyna Gordon.