
Yun Wang, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
Dr. Yun Wang joined the Allen Institute in 2016 and currently serves as a research scientist for the neuroanatomy program.
Dr. Yun Wang received her PhD. degree under Dr. Markram’s supervision in Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel in 2000. She had a postdoctoral training in Dr. Goldman Rakick’s laboratory in Yale University for more than three years. She worked as a principle investigator at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, an affiliated hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine from 2004 to 2015. Her research interest was focusing on the quantitative study of the cortical neuronal microcircuitry in neuronal electrophysiology and synaptology, especially in neuronal morphology and classification. She has contributed to Blue Brain Project (BBP) since 2005 shortly after the project was launched, and later to the Human Brain Project (HBP). Her research approaches, particularly on the 3D-computer reconstruction, the classification and morphometrics of neurons, have been considered as an essential step for the biologically realistic computer simulation of the brain in the HBP. Her substantial achievements are the publications in Cell (2015), PNAS (2012), PLoS One (2010), and Nature Neuroscience (2006). Her expertise on the classification and morphometrics of neurons is also evidenced by an authorship given for the articles, ‘Petilla Terminology: Nomenclature of features of GABAergic interneurons of the cerebral cortex. (Nat Rev Neurosci. 9: 1-13. 2008)’, and ‘GABAergic interneurons of the cerebral cortex: A gardener’s classification and nomenclature approach. (Nat Rev Neurosci. 2013)’.

Research
Research Interests
Dr. Yun Wang as a leading scientist plays a major role for the project on the reconstruction and classification of single neurons at whole-brain-level. She has also made critical connections with Dr. Hanchuan Peng’s team to work together toward improving automated reconstruction methods for large scale reconstruction and analysis of neurons at whole brain level.
Expertise
- Neuroanatomy
- Neuronal electrophysiology
- Synaptology
Research Programs
- Neuroanatomy at whole-brain level
Selected Publications
A multimodal cell census and atlas of the mammalian primary motor cortex
Nature
October 6, 2021
BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN)
Cellular anatomy of the mouse primary motor cortex
Nature
October 6, 2021
Muñoz-Castañeda R, Zingg B, Matho KS, Chen X, Wang Q, Foster NN, Li A, Narasimhan A, Hirokawa KE, Huo B, Bannerjee S, Korobkova L, Park CS, Park YG, Bienkowski MS, Chon U, Wheeler DW, Li X, Wang Y, Naeemi M, Xie P, Liu L, Kelly K, An X, Attili SM, Bowman I, Bludova A, Cetin A, Ding L, Drewes R, D'Orazi F, Elowsky C, Fischer S, Galbavy W, Gao L, Gillis J, Groblewski PA, Gou L, Hahn JD, Hatfield JT, Hintiryan H, Huang JJ, Kondo H, Kuang X, Lesnar P, Li X, Li Y, Lin M, Lo D, Mizrachi J, Mok S, Nicovich PR, Palaniswamy R, Palmer J, Qi X, Shen E, Sun YC, Tao HW, Wakemen W, Wang Y, Yao S, Yuan J, Zhan H, Zhu M, Ng L, Zhang LI, Lim BK, Hawrylycz M, Gong H, Gee JC, Kim Y, Chung K, Yang XW, Peng H, Luo Q, Mitra PP, Zador AM, Zeng H, Ascoli GA, Josh Huang Z, Osten P, Harris JA, Dong HW
Morphological diversity of single neurons in molecularly defined cell types
Nature
October 6, 2021
Peng H, Xie P, Liu L, Kuang X, Wang Y, Qu L, Gong H, Jiang S, Li A, Ruan Z, Ding L, Yao Z, Chen C, Chen M, Daigle TL, Dalley R, Ding Z, Duan Y, Feiner A, He P, Hill C, Hirokawa KE, Hong G, Huang L, Kebede S, Kuo HC, Larsen R, Lesnar P, Li L, Li Q, Li X, Li Y, Li Y, Liu A, Lu D, Mok S, Ng L, Nguyen TN, Ouyang Q, Pan J, Shen E, Song Y, Sunkin SM, Tasic B, Veldman MB, Wakeman W, Wan W, Wang P, Wang Q, Wang T, Wang Y, Xiong F, Xiong W, Xu W, Ye M, Yin L, Yu Y, Yuan J, Yuan J, Yun Z, Zeng S, Zhang S, Zhao S, Zhao Z, Zhou Z, Huang ZJ, Esposito L, Hawrylycz MJ, Sorensen SA, Yang XW, Zheng Y, Gu Z, Xie W, Koch C, Luo Q, Harris JA, Wang Y, Zeng H
Cell Reports
October 12, 2021
Zhuang J, Wang Y, Ouellette ND, Turschak EE, Larsen RS, Takasaki KT, Daigle TL, Tasic B, Waters J, Zeng H, Reid RC
Nature Methods
March 23, 2020
Yao S, Yuan P, Ouellette B, Zhou T, Mortrud M, Balaram P, Chatterjee S, Wang Y, Daigle TL, Tasic B, Kuang X, Gong H, Luo Q, Zeng S, Curtright A, Dhaka A, Kahan A, Gradinaru V, Chrapkiewicz R, Schnitzer M, Zeng H, Cetin A
Objective Morphological Classification of Neocortical Pyramidal Cells
Cerebral Cortex
January 31, 2019
Kanari L, Ramaswamy S, Shi Y, Morand S, Meystre J, Perin R, Abdellah M, Wang Y, Hess K, Markram H
Hierarchical organization of cortical and thalamic connectivity
Nature
October 30, 2019
Harris JA, Mihalas S, Hirokawa KE, Whitesell JD, Choi H, Bernard A, Bohn P, Caldejon S, Casal L, Cho A, Feiner A, Feng D, Gaudreault N, Gerfen CR, Graddis N, Groblewski PA, Henry AM, Ho A, Howard R, Knox JE, Kuan L, Kuang X, Lecoq J, Lesnar P, Li Y, Luviano J, McConoughey S, Mortrud MT, Naeemi M, Ng L, Oh SW, Ouellette B, Shen E, Sorensen SA, Wakeman W2, Wang Q2, Wang Y, Williford A, Phillips JW, Jones AR, Koch C, Zeng H
IBRO Reports
December 1, 2018
Wang Y, Ye M, Kuang X, Li Y, Hu S
Reconstruction and Simulation of Neocortical Microcircuitry
Cell
October 8, 2015
Markram H, Muller E, Ramaswamy S, Reimann MW, Abdellah M, Sanchez CA, Ailamaki A, Alonso-Nanclares L, Antille N, Arsever S, Kahou GA, Berger TK, Bilgili A, Buncic N, Chalimourda A, Chindemi G, Courcol JD, Delalondre F, Delattre V, Druckmann S, Dumusc R, Dynes J, Eilemann S, Gal E, Gevaert ME, Ghobril JP, Gidon A, Graham JW, Gupta A, Haenel V, Hay E, Heinis T, Hernando JB, Hines M, Kanari L, Keller D, Kenyon J, Khazen G, Kim Y, King JG, Kisvarday Z, Kumbhar P, Lasserre S, Le Bé JV, Magalhães BR, Merchán-Pérez A, Meystre J, Morrice BR, Muller J, Muñoz-Céspedes A, Muralidhar S, Muthurasa K, Nachbaur D, Newton TH, Nolte M, Ovcharenko A, Palacios J, Pastor L, Perin R, Ranjan R, Riachi I, Rodríguez JR, Riquelme JL, Rössert C, Sfyrakis K, Shi Y, Shillcock JC, Silberberg G, Silva R, Tauheed F, Telefont M, Toledo-Rodriguez M19, Tränkler T, Van Geit W, Díaz JV, Walker R, Wang Y, Zaninetta SM, DeFelipe J, Hill SL, Segev I, Schürmann F
PNAS
October 16, 2012
Hill SL, Wang Y, Riachi I, Schürmann F, Markram H
Electrotonic Coupling between Pyramidal Neurons in the Neocortex
PLoS One
April 26, 2010
Wang Y, Barakat A, Zhou H
Petilla terminology: nomenclature of features of GABAergic interneurons of the cerebral cortex
Nature Reviews Neuroscience
July 2008
Petilla Interneuron Nomenclature Group, Ascoli GA, Alonso-Nanclares L, Anderson SA, Barrionuevo G, Benavides-Piccione R, Burkhalter A, Buzsáki G, Cauli B, Defelipe J, Fairén A, Feldmeyer D, Fishell G, Fregnac Y, Freund TF, Gardner D, Gardner EP, Goldberg JH, Helmstaedter M, Hestrin S, Karube F, Kisvárday ZF, Lambolez B, Lewis DA, Marin O, Markram H, Muñoz A, Packer A, Petersen CC, Rockland KS, Rossier J, Rudy B, Somogyi P, Staiger JF, Tamas G, Thomson AM, Toledo-Rodriguez M, Wang Y, West DC, Yuste R.