Bio
Gabor completed medical training at the Semmelweis University in Hungary and obtained a PhD in neuroscience from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. In Dr. Yasmin Hurd’s lab, he studied the effects of long-term heroin use on the neuroepigenome in post-mortem human brains and rodent models of heroin self-administration. Gabor then completed his postdoctoral training with Dr. Shelley Berger at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied the role of nuclear metabolic enzymes in gene regulation. His laboratory explores the role of metabolic-epigenetic interactions in the healthy and diseased brain, with particular emphasis on substance use disorders and neurodegeneration.
Research
Metabolic-epigenetic interactions in the healthy and diseased brain
My research program aims to understand how metabolic changes influence gene expression in the brain. Specifically, I investigate the recruitment of metabolic enzymes to the nucleus and to chromatin in different brain regions and different cell types. I am particularly interested in examining the role of these pathways during exposure to harmful stimuli, such as abused substances. Research in my laboratory will explore how metabolites of drugs affect epigenetic regulation in the brain, and how this contributes to transcriptional changes that underlie substance use disorders and developmental exposure to drugs. In addition, my lab will study the role of metabolic-epigenetic interactions in neurodegeneration, where epigenetic changes are quickly emerging as an important novel disease mechanism. By examining these fundamental biological processes, my research program will have the potential to uncover novel therapeutic targets for substance use disorders, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and neurodegeneration.