Rate My Professor Miri VanHoven

Miri VanHoven is an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at San José State University, where she joined the faculty in 2008 and established a neurogenetics lab. She also serves as Associate Dean for Research in the College of Science. VanHoven earned her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of California, San Francisco in 2005. Her research employs the genetic model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to investigate neural circuit formation, learning, memory, and the role of sleep on the nervous system. The VanHoven Lab discovers new pathways mediating neurophysiological processes using tools including fluorescent biomarkers such as NLG-1 GRASP and NLG-1 CLASP to visualize neural connections, biomarkers for neuronal calcium and cGMP signaling, circuit-specific behavioral assays, molecular manipulations, and genetic approaches. The nervous system of C. elegans resembles that of humans at the molecular and cellular levels, providing insights into mechanisms that may underlie neurological disorders such as schizophrenia and dementia. The lab pursues three NIH-funded major projects, two of which are collaborations with researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and engages in highly interdisciplinary work with faculty in mathematics, chemistry, computer science, and physics. VanHoven has obtained funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, including grants supporting studies on disease-linked genes in synapse formation and the basis of memory consolidation.

Key publications include "Sleep is required to consolidate odor memory and remodel olfactory synapses" published in 2023. VanHoven's lab actively mentors master's students and undergraduate researchers, fostering student-faculty collaborations in neurogenetics. Her work emphasizes visualizing synaptic specificity and understanding genetic factors in nervous system development and function.