Rate My Professor Brett Berke

Dr. Brett Berke serves as Associate Professor of Biology at Truman State University in the School of Science and Mathematics, a position he has held since 2015. He began his higher education in electrical engineering, earning a B.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1991 to 1996, at which point he discovered his passion for neurobiology and transitioned fields. Berke completed his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Iowa from 1996 to 2004, focusing his dissertation work on the genetic determinants of axon guidance and calcium-dependent neuronal growth using Drosophila fruit flies. He then pursued a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Yale University from 2004 to 2015, where he investigated retrograde signaling mechanisms at synapses.

The research in the Berke Lab employs the genetic model organism Drosophila melanogaster to elucidate molecular mechanisms underlying synapse formation, animal locomotion, and neural degeneration. Specific projects examine novel molecules at the larval neuromuscular junction, genetic regulation of decision-making during larval crawling, and selective neuronal vulnerability in fly models of neurodegenerative disease. Berke's contributions to synaptic plasticity and neurodevelopment are documented in key publications, including Sukhanova, T. et al. (2025) "The roles of the Numb protein in synaptic development and plasticity" in Developmental Biology; Galbraith, A. et al. (2021) "Reducing the expression of the Numb adaptor protein in neurons increases the searching behavior of Drosophila larvae" in microPublication Biology; Thies, M. and Berke, B. (2020) "Roles of the Fem-1 gene in Drosophila melanogaster adult courtship and neuromuscular junction development" in Impulse; McNeill, E.M. et al. (2020) "Drosophila Enabled Promotes Synapse Morphogenesis and Regulates Active Zone Form and Function" in Neural Development; and Berke, B. et al. (2017) "Target-Dependent Retrograde Signaling Mediates Synaptic Plasticity at the Drosophila Neuromuscular Junction" in Developmental Neurobiology. Additional publications cover retrograde BMP signaling and temperature-dependent neuronal plasticity. At Truman, Berke teaches courses such as Neurobiology, Cell Biology, Animal Physiology, Principles of Human Physiology, and graduate-level Scientific Writing and Seminars.