Robert Berman

Associate Member, Environmental Health Sciences Center

Dr. Robert Berman is a Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Professor. His research focuses on mechanisms of brain injury and disorders of brain development.

Positions at UC Davis

  • Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Neurological Surgery
  • Member of the Center for Neuroscience and on the faculty of the M.I.N.D. Institute
  • Director of Research for the Neurotrauma Research Laboratories
  • Co-Director of the Rodent Behavioral Testing Core Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC)

  • member of the Executive Committee of the  Neuroscience Graduate Program

  • Neuroscience Program Master Advisor

  • Member of the Pharmacology/Toxicology Graduate Program

Areas of Expertise

  • ​​​Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Brain Injury

Major Research Papers

Wenzel HJ, Murray KD, Haify SN, Hunsaker MR, Schwartzer JJ, Kim K, La Spada AR, Sopher BL, Hagerman PJ, Raske C, Severijnen LWFM, Willemsen R, Hukema RK, Berman RF. Astroglial-targeted expression of the fragile X CGG repeat premutation in mice yields RAN translation, motor deficits and possible evidence for cell-to-cell propagation of FXTAS pathology. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2019 Feb 26;7(1):27. doi: 10.1186/s40478-019-0677-7. PMID: 30808398; PMCID: PMC6390634.

Schwartzer JJ, Garcia-Arocena D, Jamal A, Izadi A, Willemsen R, Berman RF. Allopregnanolone Improves Locomotor Activity and Arousal in the Aged CGG Knock-in Mouse Model of Fragile X-Associated Tremor/Ataxia Syndrome. Front Neurosci. 2021 Dec 3;15:752973. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.752973. PMID: 34924931; PMCID: PMC8678485.

Bruce MR, Couch ACM, Grant S, McLellan J, Ku K, Chang C, Bachman A, Matson M, Berman RF, Maddock RJ, Rowland D, Kim E, Ponzini MD, Harvey D, Taylor SL, Vernon AC, Bauman MD, Van de Water J. Altered behavior, brain structure, and neurometabolites in a rat model of autism-specific maternal autoantibody exposure. Mol Psychiatry. 2023 May;28(5):2136-2147. doi: 10.1038/s41380-023-02020-3. Epub 2023 Mar 27. PMID: 36973347; PMCID: PMC10575787

Education and Degree(s)
  • BA, Microbiology & Immunology, University of Utah, 1970
  • MS, Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Utah, 1974
  • PhD, Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Utah, 1976
  • Post Doc, Biochemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1978
Courses
  • Visiting Professor, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand (1992)
  • Visiting Scientist Award, Medical Research Council of Sweden, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden (1995)
  • National Associate of the National Academies (designated lifetime member) (2002)