U.S. flag
        An official website of the United States government
          Here’s how you know

      Official websites use .gov
                A
                .gov
                website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
          Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
                A lock
                  (
                  
                  )
                   or
                  https://
                   means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.Search
                Menu
    
                      Información en Español
                      Search NINDSSearch NINDS
            

            Main navigation
  

        
              Health Information
                                     Toggle Health Information Dropdown
                                Disorders
                Clinical Trials
                Patient & Caregiver Education
                Public Education
                Support Resources
                Funding
                                     Toggle Funding Dropdown
                                Find Funding Opportunities
                About Funding
                Preparing Your Application
                After You Submit
                Determining Your Funding Likelihood
                Manage Your Award
                NINDS Small Business Program
                Training & Career Development
                Current Research
                                     Toggle Current Research Dropdown
                                Coronavirus and NINDS
                Focus on Disorders
                Focus on Tools & Topics
                Research Funded by NINDS
                Research at NINDS
                Scientific Resources
                Trans-Agency Activities
                News & Events
                                     Toggle News & Events Dropdown
                                Events
                News
                Director's Messages
                About NINDS
                                     Toggle About NINDS Dropdown
                                Who We Are
                What We Do
                Job Opportunities 
 Home
                                About NINDS
                        What We Do
                        Impact
                        Workforce Diversity Success Stories
SHARE: Success Stories: Daniel Colón-Ramos
Image
              Daniel Colon-Ramos
**Daniel Colón-Ramos, Ph.D.**
Associate Professor
Program in Cellular Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration and Repair, Department of Cell Biology
Department of NeuroscienceYale University School of Medicine



**Serving the community as a scientist**

As a Puerto Rican, it has always been very important to me that my work benefit my community. Although I was interested in science from a young age, as it came time for me to start making career decisions, I couldn’t see how, as a scientist, I could positively impact my community. In part, this was because I was not sure what it meant to be a scientist. I initially gravitated toward a career with direct applications to health in my community, such as medicine or social justice work. However, over the course of my journey, I came to realize that the best way to give back was to follow my passion and use my skills, knowledge, and ties to benefit communities that are underserved in the sciences.

One of the big turning points in my career came after college. During college, I merged my interest in science with my interest in social justice by working on ethnobotanical projects such as studying the use of medicinal plants by indigenous communities in Central America. But my mind always returned to the basic science; I itched to know how these medicinal plants were actually working. Although I had an opportunity to pursue a Fulbright to continue similar work after college, I was still unsure. I didn’t have the training to do the work as effectively as I wanted to, and I felt I wasn’t taking advantage of my intellectual interests, knowledge, and connections.

Around this time, I reached out to a Puerto Rican scientist, Mariano García-Blanco, who had graduated from my high school in Puerto Rico (Colegio San Ignacio) and was a professor at Duke University. We had a long conversation about my career trajectory, plans, and concerns. He told me that while he could not answer my questions, he could offer me the opportunity to work in his lab at Duke University for a year to experience full time research and figure out the answers for myself.

I joined Dr. García-Blanco’s lab. We applied for, and received, an NIH diversity supplement to his R01 to use the algae *Chlamydomonas reinhardtii* to study how nuclear architecture changes during upregulation of transcription —establishing a new experimental system in the lab. Thanks to the diversity supplement, I was able to work as an independent investigator rather than a technician. I used the funding to visit Rob Singer's lab at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and jointly developed a new protocol that allowed fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) in*Chlamydomonas*. That year took advantage of the NIH grant-writing workshops, went to my first scientific meeting, and published my first paper in *Developmental Cell*.

This experience cemented my desire to continue in science. I decided to enter the Ph.D. program at Duke, and joined the lab of Sally Kornbluth. From Dr. Kornbluth, I learned how to identify important research questions, design experiments, and structure the work for publication. I ended up seeking out and establishing a lot of collaborations during graduate school while pursuing my research questions of interest. If I had to define one thing that helped me during those early experiences, was to seek out advice, and learn, from the best.

I then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University with Kang Shen, another superb mentor who helped me transition into a role as an independent investigator. After graduate school, I felt I could solve research problems, but I hadn’t yet conceptualized the fundamental questions I would base my career on. The process of applying for the K99/R00 from NINDS pushed me to think beyond the paper into what I wanted my longer term contributions to be as a scientist. It also gave me the opportunity to get feedback from the community on the proposed projects.

The K99/R00 funding let me focus on what I needed to do as a postdoctoral researcher to promote my career without having to compete with the demands of the research my advisor was funded to do. It also ensured that I develop, and continue, an independent project to start my own lab. Finally, as a new faculty member, I could focus on my research and not worry so much about funding during those initial, critical transition years.

Over the course of my career, I have come to realize that scientists occupy very powerful positions in terms of knowledge creation, distribution of knowledge, and training. Contrary to what I feared as an undergraduate, I have found many ways to impact communities that are underserved in the sciences. I have worked to increase access to science through initiatives like Ciencia Puerto Rico, a non-profit organization that promotes scientific research and education in Puerto Rico.

In my own lab, we value diversity because it benefits the science to include different perspectives in our work. So far, I have mentored two students—Luis Martinez Velazquez and Lucelenie Rodriguez Laureano—who have also taken advantage of NINDS diversity supplements to launch their careers and to push important lab projects forward. NINDS funding mechanisms have now benefited the next generation of scientists, and continue to benefit my lab and our research.

**Current Research**

A central unsolved question in neurobiology is how synapses are precisely assembled to build the neuronal architecture that underlies behavior. To address this, we have developed tools in the thermotaxis circuit of the nematode worm, *C. elegans*. The system we developed enables unbiased genetic screens to identify novel pathways that instruct synaptogenesis in vivo, and single-cell manipulation of these pathways to understand how they influence behavior. Our findings serve as a foundation for the next phase of our research: integrating multidisciplinary approaches in single cells and circuits to investigate the relatively unexplored interplay between the cell biology of the synapse and behavior. As mechanisms underlying synapse structure and function are conserved, our research program could enhance our understanding of synaptic cell biology in higher organisms, which may be important for disease.




  Image
              nematode worm
In the nematode worm *C. elegans*, the main serotonergic neuron, called NSM, elaborates axonal arbors within a precise neuroanatomical location overlying the nerve ring (Axang et al., 2008). We recently developed a system that allows us to study the growth of NSM and its synapses *in vivo*, in real time and with single cell resolution. This gives us an unprecedented opportunity to dissect the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate serotonergic synapse development *in vivo*. About NINDS
  
    

    Who We Are
                                                              
                    
                                      Staff Directory
    
            Program Directors
    
            Advisory Council
                                                              
                    
                                      NANDSC ME/CFS Research Roadmap Working Group
    
            NANDS Council Neural Exposome Top Priorities (NEXT) Working Group
    
            NANDSC Membership Roster
    
            NANDSC Fundamental Neuroscience Working Group
    
            NANDSC Working Group for Health Disparities and Inequities in Neurological DisordersLeadership
    
            Board of Scientific Counselors
    
            Director's Corner
    
            Organization
                                                              
                    
                                      Office of the Director
                                                              
                    
                                      Division of Clinical Research
    
            Division of Extramural Activities
    
            Division of Intramural Research
    
            Division of Neuroscience
    
            Division of Translational Research
    
            Office of Scientific Management and Operations
                                                              
                    
                                      Office of Management
    
            Office of Neuroscience Communications and Engagement
    
            Office of Pain Policy and Planning
    
            Office of Science Policy and PlanningOffice of the BRAIN Director
        
  
              
        
  
              
        
  
              
    
            What We Do
                                                              
                    
                                      NINDS Mission
    
            Strategic Plans & Evaluations
                                                              
                    
                                      Strategic Plans
                                                              
                    
                                      Strategic Plan 2021-2026
    
            Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Dementias Summits
    
            Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
    
            Cerebral Palsy Research
    
            Epilepsy Research
    
            Health Disparities and Health Equity
    
            Muscular Dystrophy Coordinating Committee
    
            Parkinson’s Disease Research Planning
    
            Stroke Research Planning
    
            Tuberous Sclerosis Complex
    
            Workforce DiversityProgram Evaluations
        
  
              
    
            Workforce Diversity
                                                              
                    
                                      Diversity Policies & Resources
    
            Enhancing DiversityImpact
                                                              
                    
                                      NINDS Contributions to Approved Therapies
    
            Translational Research Success Stories
    
            Workforce Diversity Success Stories
                                                              
                    
                                      Success Stories: Ukpong Eyo
    
            Success Stories: Brielle Ferguson
    
            Success Stories: Audrey Winkelsas
    
            Success Stories: Eduardo Candelario-Jalil
    
            Success Stories: Daniel Colón-Ramos
    
            Success Stories: Julia Dallman
    
            Success Stories: Rachel Dreilinger
    
            Success Stories: Michelle Gray
    
            Success Stories: Corey Harwell
    
            Success Stories: Franck Kalume
    
            Success Stories: Zayd Khaliq
    
            Success Stories: Naomi Lee
    
            Success Stories: Joaquin N. Lugo
    
            Success Stories: Susan Marino
    
            Success Stories: Cassie S. Mitchell
    
            Success Stories: Edjah K. Nduom
    
            Success Stories: Ketema Paul
    
            Success Stories: Azizi Seixas
    
            Success Stories: Alexis Simpkins
    
            Success Stories: Catrina Sims-Robinson
    
            Success Stories: Mariana Torrente
    
            Success Stories: Tyisha WilliamsBudget & Legislation
                                                              
                    
                                      FY23 Total Appropriation
    
            FY22 Total Appropriation
    
            FY21 Total Appropriation
    
            FY20 Total Appropriation
    
            NINDS Annual Budget
                                                              
                    
                                      NINDS 2025 Congressional Budget Justification
    
            NINDS 2024 Congressional Budget Justification
    
            NINDS 2023 Congressional Budget Justification
    
            NINDS 2022 Congressional Budget Justification
    
            NINDS 2021 Congressional Budget JustificationLegislative Updates
        
  
              
    
            Scientific Review Branch
        
  
              
    
            Job Opportunities
                                                              
                    
                                      Careers at NINDS
                                                              
                    
                                      Director, Biologics Neurotherapeutic Development
    
            Health Program Specialist
    
            Health Scientist Administrator (Program Officer)
    
            Health Scientist Administrator (Program Director), Neural Environment Cluster
    
            Neurosurgery Research Fellowships
    
            Program Director, Parkinson’s Disease
    
            Program Director, Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia (VCID)
    
            Staff Clinician, Section of Infections of the Nervous SystemNIH BRAIN Initiative® Careers
    
            NIH HEAL Initiative Careers
                                                              
                    
                                      Health Scientist Administrator, PTDP
    
            Health Scientist Administrators, NINDS/PSPP

Did you find the content you were looking for?
  Yes, I did find the content I was looking for



No, I did not find the content I was looking forPlease rate how easy it was to navigate the NINDS website
  Very easy to navigate



Easy to navigate



Neutral



Difficult to navigate



Very difficult to navigateThank you for letting us know! Any other feedback?Submit

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policyand Terms of Serviceapply.

      Last reviewed on September 20, 2022
        Contact Us
  

        
              Contact NINDS
                Visitor Information
        Related Sites
  

        
              Site Map
                National Institutes of Health
                Department of Health & Human Services
                USA.gov
        Policies
  

        
              Accessibility
                Freedom of Information Act
                Linking Policy
                Privacy Statement
                Vulnerability Disclosure Policy
Follow NINDS On Social Media
          
          National Institutes of Health (NIH)
          9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD, 20892