World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Neuroscience

D-Index
71
Citations
23459
World Ranking
2373
National Ranking
1125

Biology and Biochemistry

D-Index
72
Citations
23528
World Ranking
6183
National Ranking
2910

Research.com Recognitions

  • 1998 - Fellow of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Overview

Samuel L. Pfaff is affiliated with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in the United States. Their research spans across the fields of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, and Neuroscience, with a strong focus on Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology. Additional areas of study include Cognitive Neuroscience and Cancer Research.

The scientist's work addresses multiple main topics, including:

  • Zebrafish Biomedical Research Applications
  • Neural dynamics and brain function
  • Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
  • Axon Guidance and Neuronal Signaling
  • Primate Behavior and Ecology
  • RNA Research and Splicing
  • MicroRNA in disease regulation

Recent publications by Samuel L. Pfaff include:

  • "The β1-adrenergic receptor links sympathetic nerves to T cell exhaustion," 2023, Nature
  • "Conserved genetic signatures parcellate cardinal spinal neuron classes into local and projection subsets," 2021, Science
  • "Spinal premotor interneurons controlling antagonistic muscles are spatially intermingled," 2022, eLife
  • "A hidden threshold in motor neuron gene networks revealed by modulation of miR-218 dose," 2021, Neuron
  • "Motor neurons use push-pull signals to direct vascular remodeling critical for their connectivity," 2022, Neuron

Frequent co-authors collaborating with Samuel L. Pfaff include:

  • Shawn P. Driscoll
  • Gokhan Senturk
  • Neal D. Amin
  • Jeffrey D. Moore
  • Miriam Gullo

The scientist's publications have appeared notably in the following venues:

  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Neuron
  • Cell Reports
  • Nature
  • Science

Awards received include a Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation awarded in 1998.

Best Publications

  • Isl1 Identifies a Cardiac Progenitor Population that Proliferates Prior to Differentiation and Contributes a Majority of Cells to the Heart

    Chen Leng Cai;Xingqun Liang;Yunqing Shi;Po Hsien Chu

  • Topographic organization of embryonic motor neurons defined by expression of LIM homeobox genes

    T. Tsuchida;M. Ensini;S.B. Morton;M. Baldassare

  • Embryonic stem cell potency fluctuates with endogenous retrovirus activity

    Todd S. Macfarlan;Wesley D. Gifford;Shawn Driscoll;Karen Lettieri

  • Requirement for LIM Homeobox Gene Isl1 in Motor Neuron Generation Reveals a Motor Neuron– Dependent Step in Interneuron Differentiation

    Samuel L. Pfaff;Monica Mendelsohn;Colin L. Stewart;Thomas Edlund

  • Independent requirement for ISL1 in formation of pancreatic mesenchyme and islet cells

    Ulf Ahlgren;Samuel L. Pfaff;Samuel L. Pfaff;Thomas M. Jessell;Thomas Edlund

  • Transcriptional Codes and the Control of Neuronal Identity

    Ryuichi Shirasaki;Samuel L Pfaff

  • Distinct roles of nerve and muscle in postsynaptic differentiation of the neuromuscular synapse

    Weichun Lin;Robert W. Burgess;Bertha Dominguez;Samuel L. Pfaff

  • Control of cell pattern in the neural tube: motor neuron induction by diffusible factors from notochord and floor plate.

    Toshiya Yamada;Samuel L. Pfaff;Thomas Edlund;Thomas M. Jessell

  • LIM HOMEODOMAIN FACTORS LHX3 AND LHX4 ASSIGN SUBTYPE IDENTITIES FOR MOTOR NEURONS

    Kamal Sharma;Hui Z Sheng;Karen Lettieri;Hung Li

  • YAP regulates neural progenitor cell number via the TEA domain transcription factor

    Xinwei Cao;Samuel L. Pfaff;Fred H. Gage

  • A functional study of miR-124 in the developing neural tube

    Xinwei Cao;Samuel L. Pfaff;Fred H. Gage

  • LIM factor Lhx3 contributes to the specification of motor neuron and interneuron identity through cell-type-specific protein-protein interactions

    Joshua P. Thaler;Soo Kyung Lee;Linda W. Jurata;Gordon N. Gill

  • Pancreas dorsal lobe agenesis and abnormal islets of Langerhans in Hlxb9-deficient mice

    Kathleen A. Harrison;Joshua Thaler;Samuel L. Pfaff;Hua Gu

  • Active Suppression of Interneuron Programs within Developing Motor Neurons Revealed by Analysis of Homeodomain Factor HB9

    Joshua Thaler;Kathleen Harrison;Kamal Sharma;Karen Lettieri

  • Topographic mapping from the retina to the midbrain is controlled by relative but not absolute levels of EphA receptor signaling.

    Arthur Brown;Paul A Yates;Paul A Yates;Patrick Burrola;Dan Ortuño

  • Transcriptional networks regulating neuronal identity in the developing spinal cord

    Soo Kyung Lee;Samuel L. Pfaff

  • Formation of Rathke's pouch requires dual induction from the diencephalon.

    Naoyuki Takuma;Hui Z. Sheng;Yasuhide Furuta;Jerrold M. Ward

  • SnapShot: Spinal Cord Development

    William A. Alaynick;Thomas M. Jessell;Samuel L. Pfaff

  • Synchronization of Neurogenesis and Motor Neuron Specification by Direct Coupling of bHLH and Homeodomain Transcription Factors

    Soo Kyung Lee;Samuel L Pfaff

  • Identification of a MicroRNA that Activates Gene Expression by Repressing Nonsense-Mediated RNA Decay

    Ivone G. Bruno;Rachid Karam;Rachid Karam;Lulu Huang;Lulu Huang;Lulu Huang;Anjana Bhardwaj

Frequent Co-Authors

Gordon N. Gill
Gordon N. Gill University of California, San Diego
Sylvia M. Evans
Sylvia M. Evans University of Montana
Fred H. Gage
Fred H. Gage Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Thomas Edlund
Thomas Edlund Umeå University
Robert W. Burgess
Robert W. Burgess The Jackson Laboratory
Thomas M. Jessell
Thomas M. Jessell Columbia University
Dennis D.M. O'Leary
Dennis D.M. O'Leary Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Joshua R. Sanes
Joshua R. Sanes Harvard University
Jack E. Dixon
Jack E. Dixon University of California, San Diego
Peter H. Duesberg
Peter H. Duesberg University of California, Berkeley

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