Bina Santoro

I am a molecular biologist by training, and my research at Columbia has mostly focused on studying the role of a particular class of voltage-gated ion channels in the brain: the HCN pacemaker channels. I’ve used proteomics to identify regulatory partners for these channels in different parts of the brain, which are important for determining their expression, properties and subcellular distribution. More recently, I generated humanized mouse models that reproduce mutations in HCN1 associated with severe forms of childhood epilepsy. I work in collaboration with in vivo and in vitro electrophysiologists to understand how seizures develop in these mice, and how they can best be treated.