Rate My Professor Samuel Young Jr

Samuel M. Young, Jr., PhD, serves as Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. He earned a bachelor's degree in Molecular Biology from Princeton University in 1996 and a PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the University of North Carolina Gene Therapy Center under R. Jude Samulski. Following his doctoral work, he conducted postdoctoral research from 2000 to 2004 at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Salk Institute, focusing on synaptic vesicle release mechanisms and viral vectors for neuronal transduction. From 2004 to 2009, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany. He then led the Molecular Mechanisms of Synaptic Function research group at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience until 2017, when he joined the University of Iowa as Associate Professor with tenure in Anatomy and Cell Biology. In 2021, he was appointed Vice Chair for Research in the department, and he was promoted to full Professor in 2022.

Young's research investigates the molecular mechanisms regulating presynaptic function, particularly at the calyx of Held synapse in the auditory brainstem, to understand synaptic vesicle priming, calcium channel regulation of neurotransmitter release, and replenishment of the readily releasable pool of vesicles essential for precise sound encoding. His laboratory has pioneered helper-dependent adenoviral vectors enabling cell-type specific expression of large transgenes in neurons, advancing gene therapy for neurodegenerative diseases and auditory disorders. Key publications include 'Presynaptic deletion of GIT proteins results in increased synaptic strength at a mammalian central synapse' (Neuron, 2015), 'Presynaptic mitochondria volume and abundance increase gradually with development and are invariant with acute activity at the calyx of Held synapse' (Journal of Neuroscience, 2019), 'Development of adenoviral vectors that transduce Purkinje cells and other cerebellar cell-types in the cerebellum of a humanized mouse model' (Molecular Therapy Methods & Clinical Development, 2024), and 'CaV2.1 α1 subunit motifs that control presynaptic CaV2.1 subtype abundance are distinct from CaV2.1 preference' (Journal of Physiology, 2023). He received the 2020 UI Health Care Distinguished Scholar award, providing $200,000 annually for three years to support his synaptic research. Young has delivered invited lectures, such as the Distinguished Lecture Series in Physiology at UC Davis in 2022, and serves on thesis committees and as a mentor in neuroscience programs.