Alan Packer joined the Simons Foundation in 2009 as an associate director of research. He earned his undergraduate degree in biology from Brandeis University and his Ph.D. in cell biology and genetics from the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences in New York City. His graduate work with Rosemary Bachvarova focused on germ cell development using the mouse as a model system. With Debra Wolgemuth at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, he carried out postdoctoral work on developmental control genes (HOX genes) and the mechanisms of their regulation in the mouse embryo. In 2000, Packer joined the editorial staff of Nature Genetics, the leading journal in the field of genetics, where he was involved in all aspects of the journal’s production. His responsibilities included overseeing peer review of submitted manuscripts, with an emphasis on the genetics of human disease, as well as commissioning reviews, writing press releases and editorials, updating the journal’s website, and preparing special issues of the journal. He served as acting editor in 2002-2003. During his tenure at Nature Genetics, he established a wide range of contacts in the genetics community through attendance at meetings and visits with scientists in their labs. Packer has also done freelance writing on a number of topics for Nature and other scientific publications.
Alan Packer
From this contributor
Startled fish help sound out sensory overload in autism
There is some evidence that neural habituation — the process by which neurons get used to sensory stimuli — goes awry in autism. Mutant fish may help us understand the sensory sensitivities that often accompany the disorder, says Alan Packer.

Startled fish help sound out sensory overload in autism
Study uncovers link between autism risk gene, language
Mutations in TBR1, a candidate gene for autism, compromise its functions and its ability to bind its partners — including FOXP2. Alan Packer explores the gene’s emerging link to language.

Study uncovers link between autism risk gene, language
Schizophrenia milestone holds lessons for autism
A long-awaited report, published today in Nature, confirms that with access to tens of thousands of genomes, researchers can identify common genetic risk factors for a complex neuropsychiatric disorder.
Multimodal mouse model for autism
A new paper accomplishes a rare feat, linking human genetics with physiology, behavior and a therapeutic in a compelling mouse model of autism, says Alan Packer.
Keeping score
An effort to rank autism genes on the strength of the evidence implicating them in the disorder will provide researchers with a focused list of genes to study, says Alan Packer.
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Neuroscience’s open-data revolution is just getting started
Data reuse represents an opportunity to accelerate the pace of science, reduce costs and increase the value of our collective research investments. New tools that make open data easier to use—and new pressures, including funding cuts—may increase uptake.

Neuroscience’s open-data revolution is just getting started
Data reuse represents an opportunity to accelerate the pace of science, reduce costs and increase the value of our collective research investments. New tools that make open data easier to use—and new pressures, including funding cuts—may increase uptake.
Machine learning spots neural progenitors in adult human brains
But the finding has not settled the long-standing debate over the existence and extent of neurogenesis during adulthood, says Yale University neuroscientist Juan Arellano.

Machine learning spots neural progenitors in adult human brains
But the finding has not settled the long-standing debate over the existence and extent of neurogenesis during adulthood, says Yale University neuroscientist Juan Arellano.
Xiao-Jing Wang outlines the future of theoretical neuroscience
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Xiao-Jing Wang outlines the future of theoretical neuroscience
Wang discusses why he decided the time was right for a new theoretical neuroscience textbook and how bifurcation is a key missing concept in neuroscience explanations.