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Neuroscience
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Neuroscience

D-Index
165
Citations
89498
World Ranking
92
National Ranking
60

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Neuroscience in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Neuroscience in United States Leader Award
  • 2018 - Perl-UNC Prize, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Discovery of cell-surface proteins that control circuit assembly in the visual system
  • 2017 - Gruber Prize in Neuroscience, Society for Neuroscience
  • 2007 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2002 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 2000 - W. Alden Spencer Award, College of Physicians and Surgeons
  • 1992 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 1980 - Fellow of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Overview

Joshua R. Sanes is affiliated with Harvard University in the United States. Their research spans several topics within the fields of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, and Neuroscience. The scientist's work prominently features Molecular Biology, Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Neurology, Ophthalmology, and Biophysics.

Their main research topics include:

  • Retinal Development and Disorders
  • Single-cell and Spatial Transcriptomics
  • Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
  • Nerve Injury and Regeneration
  • Retinal Diseases and Treatments
  • Glaucoma and Retinal Disorders
  • Cell Image Analysis Techniques

Among recently published papers are:

  • "Synaptic Specificity, Recognition Molecules, and Assembly of Neural Circuits," 2020, published in Cell
  • "Mouse Retinal Cell Atlas: Molecular Identification of over Sixty Amacrine Cell Types," 2020, published in Journal of Neuroscience
  • "Cell Atlas of The Human Fovea and Peripheral Retina," 2020, published in Scientific Reports
  • "Cell atlas of aqueous humor outflow pathways in eyes of humans and four model species provides insight into glaucoma pathogenesis," 2020, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • "Unified classification of mouse retinal ganglion cells using function, morphology, and gene expression," 2022, published in Cell Reports

Frequent coauthors in their work include Wenjun Yan, Karthik Shekhar, Aboozar Monavarfeshani, Anne Jacobi, and Nicholas M. Tran.

The scientist frequently publishes in venues such as bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Neuron, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, The Transmitter, and UNC Libraries.

Joshua R. Sanes has received several recognitions, including the Perl-UNC Prize from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2018 for discovery of cell-surface proteins involved in circuit assembly in the visual system. Additional awards include the 2017 Gruber Prize in Neuroscience, fellowship in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2007), membership in the National Academy of Sciences (2002), the W. Alden Spencer Award from the College of Physicians and Surgeons (2000), fellowships from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1992), and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (1980).

Best Publications

  • Imaging neuronal subsets in transgenic mice expressing multiple spectral variants of GFP.

    Guoping Feng;Rebecca H. Mellor;Michael Bernstein;Cynthia Keller-Peck

  • Long-term in vivo imaging of experience-dependent synaptic plasticity in adult cortex

    Joshua T. Trachtenberg;Brian E. Chen;Graham W. Knott;Guoping Feng

  • Development of the vertebrate neuromuscular junction.

    Joshua R. Sanes;Jeff W. Lichtman

  • Transgenic strategies for combinatorial expression of fluorescent proteins in the nervous system

    Jean Livet;Tamily A Weissman;Hyuno Kang

  • Use of a recombinant retrovirus to study post-implantation cell lineage in mouse embryos.

    J. R. Sanes;J. L. R. Rubenstein;J.-F. Nicolas

  • Induction, assembly, maturation and maintenance of a postsynaptic apparatus

    Joshua R. Sanes;Jeff W. Lichtman

  • Comprehensive Classification of Retinal Bipolar Neurons by Single-Cell Transcriptomics.

    Karthik Shekhar;Sylvain W. Lapan;Sylvain W. Lapan;Irene E. Whitney;Nicholas M. Tran

  • Synaptic structure and development: the neuromuscular junction.

    Zach W. Hall;Joshua R. Sanes

  • Defective Neuromuscular Synaptogenesis in Agrin-Deficient Mutant Mice

    Medha Gautam;Peter G Noakes;Lisa Moscoso;Fabio Rupp

  • Skeletal and cardiac myopathies in mice lacking utrophin and dystrophin : A model for Duchenne muscular dystrophy

    R.Mark Grady;Haibing Teng;Mia C Nichol;Jeanette C Cunningham

  • Neuronal cell-type classification: challenges, opportunities and the path forward

    Hongkui Zeng;Joshua R. Sanes

  • The types of retinal ganglion cells: current status and implications for neuronal classification.

    Joshua R. Sanes;Richard H. Masland

  • MicroRNA-206 Delays ALS Progression and Promotes Regeneration of Neuromuscular Synapses in Mice

    Andrew H. Williams;Gregorio Valdez;Viviana Moresi;Xiaoxia Qi

  • Molecular heterogeneity of basal laminae: isoforms of laminin and collagen IV at the neuromuscular junction and elsewhere.

    J R Sanes;E Engvall;R Butkowski;D D Hunter

  • A laminin-like adhesive protein concentrated in the synaptic cleft of the neuromuscular junction

    Dale D. Hunter;Vandana Shah;John P. Merlie;Joshua R. Sanes

  • Reinnervation of muscle fiber basal lamina after removal of myofibers. Differentiation of regenerating axons at original synaptic sites.

    J R Sanes;L M Marshall;U J McMahan

  • Cell lineage in the cerebral cortex of the mouse studied in vivo and in vitro with a Recombinant Retrovirus

    Maria B. Luskin;Alan L. Pearlman;Joshua R. Sanes

  • Extracellular Matrix Molecules that Influence Neural Development

    J R Sanes

  • Design Principles of Insect and Vertebrate Visual Systems

    Joshua R. Sanes;S. Lawrence Zipursky

  • The Laminin α Chains: Expression, Developmental Transitions, and Chromosomal Locations of α1-5, Identification of Heterotrimeric Laminins 8–11, and Cloning of a Novel α3 Isoform

    Jeffrey H. Miner;Bruce L. Patton;Stephen I. Lentz;Debra J. Gilbert

  • Neurotechnique Imaging Neuronal Subsets in Transgenic Mice Expressing Multiple Spectral Variants of GFP

    Guoping Feng;Rebecca H. Mellor;Michael Bernstein;Cynthia Keller-Peck

Frequent Co-Authors

Jeff W. Lichtman
Jeff W. Lichtman Harvard University
Aviv Regev
Aviv Regev Genentech
Robert W. Burgess
Robert W. Burgess The Jackson Laboratory
Markus Meister
Markus Meister California Institute of Technology
Peter G. Noakes
Peter G. Noakes University of Queensland
Rachel O.L. Wong
Rachel O.L. Wong University of Washington
John G. Hildebrand
John G. Hildebrand University of Arizona
Sarah A. Teichmann
Sarah A. Teichmann University of Cambridge
Eric S. Lander
Eric S. Lander Broad Institute

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