Jason Gerstner, PhD

• University of Pennsylvania, Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology, Post-Doctoral Fellowship
• University of Wisconsin-Madison, PhD in Neuroscience Training Program
• University of Wisconsin-Madison, BSc in Zoology and BSc in Communication Arts

• Graduate Faculty, Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience, College of Veterinary Medicine
• Faculty Affiliate, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Faculty Affiliate, Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering

I study molecular mechanisms that integrate sleep, circadian rhythms, and brain function, with a focus on how these processes interact with synaptic plasticity, learning, neurolgical disorders and neurodegenerative disease. My lab combines hypothesis-driven and discovery-based approaches across species—using rodent models, Drosophila neurogenetics, transcriptomics, and bioinformatics—to identify conserved pathways that regulate behavioral state and cognitive function.

A central focus of my work is the glial-enriched fatty-acid binding protein FABP7. We identified FABP7 as a time-of-day–regulated transcript that links astrocyte function, sleep, and memory, demonstrated conserved roles for FABP7/dFabp in sleep regulation and memory across species, and are defining mechanisms by which neural–glial interactions impact synaptic plasticity. I lead ongoing translational projects that connect sleep disruption to epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, and glioma biology, including gene-expression and multi-omic studies and fly- and rodent-based small-molecule screening pipelines.

My research is supported by NIH and foundation funding. I mentor undergraduate, medical, and graduate trainees and aim to translate basic discoveries into biomarkers and therapeutic strategies addressing glial-related contributions to neurological disease.

In the Media

• Astrocytes: Sleeping under the stars takes new meaning
  The Spokesman-Review, Nov. 7, 2018
• Sleep Gene
  BBC Radio, April 6, 2017 (begins at 8:08 mark)
• Tiny fruit flies offer a few clues to sleep-related Alzheimer’s mysteries
  The Spokesman-Review, March 13, 2017
• WSU sleep researchers discover why some people may toss and turn more than others
  The Spokesman-Review, April 14, 2017
• WSU Researchers Find ‘Sleep Gene’ Common To 3 Species Including Humans
  Northwest News Network, April 5, 2017
• Scientists believe the secret of a good night’s sleep is all in our genes
  The Guardian, April 9, 2017

Steve Gleason Institute for Neuroscience Inaugural Fellow

Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine Honoring Leadership and Mentorship Award 2020

Outstanding Early Investigator Award – Honorable Mention, Sleep Research Society 2017

UPenn Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs Best Research Poster Presentation Award 2014

• Lee, Y, Kee, Y, Bhoumik, S, Flores, CC, Zepeda-Reyes, J, Nasinec, DA, Burpee, P, Schell, M, Owada, Y, Gerstner, JR. FABP7: A Regulator of Neuro-Immune Metabolic Networks and Therapeutic Vulnerabilities in Glioma. Cancers 2026, 18(13), 2029; doi.org/10.3390/cancers18132029
• Berg, A, Tariq, SH, Flores, CC, Lefton, M, Owada, Y, Davis, CJ, Ferraro, TN, Jacobs, JM, Gritsenko, MA, Lee, Y, Schroeder, WL, Gerstner, JR. Astrocyte FABP7 Modulates Seizure Activity Dependent Protein Expression in Mouse Brain. Neuroglia 2025, 6(3), 33; doi.org/10.3390/neuroglia6030033
• Lefton M, Flores CC, Owada Y, Davis CJ, Ferraro TN, Lee Y, Schroeder WL, Gerstner JR. Astrocyte Fabp7 modulates nocturnal seizure threshold and activity-dependent gene expression in mouse brain. PNAS Nexus. 2025 May 7;4(5):pgaf146. doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf146. eCollection 2025 May. PMID: 40386682 
• Lee Y, Flores CC, Lefton M, Bhoumik S, Owada Y, Gerstner JR. Integrated Transcriptome Profiling and Pan-Cancer Analyses Reveal Oncogenic Networks and Tumor-Immune Modulatory Roles for FABP7 in Brain Cancers. Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Nov 14;25(22):12231. doi: 10.3390/ijms252212231. PMID: 39596296 
• Flores CC, Pasetto NA, Wang H, Dimitrov AG, Davis JF, Jiang Z, Davis CJ, Gerstner JR. Sleep and diurnal alternative polyadenylation sites associated with human APA-linked brain disorders. NPJ Biol Timing Sleep. 2024;1(1):11. doi: 10.1038/s44323-024-00012-2. Epub 2024 Nov 1. PMID: 39493890 
• Gerstner, JR, Flores, CC, Lefton, M, Rogers, B, Davis, CJ. FABP7: a glial integrator of sleep, circadian rhythms, plasticity, and metabolic function.
Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience. 2023; 17, 1212213. doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2023.1212213
• Needham, H, Torpey, G, Flores, CC, Davis, CJ, Vanderheyden, WM, Gerstner, JR. A Dichotomous Role for FABP7 in Sleep and Alzheimer’s Disease Pathogenesis: A Hypothesis. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 2022; 16: 798994. doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.798994
• Vanderheyden, WM, Lefton, M, Flores, CC, Owada, Y, Gerstner, JR. Fabp7 Is Required for Normal Sleep Suppression and Anxiety-Associated Phenotype following Single-Prolonged Stress in Mice. Neuroglia 3 (2), 73-83 doi.org/10.3390/neuroglia3020005
• Shola-Dare, O, Bailess, S, Flores, CC, Vanderheyden, WM, Gerstner, JR. Glitazone Treatment Rescues Phenotypic Deficits in a Fly Model of Gaucher/Parkinson’s Disease.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences 22 (23), 12740. doi.org/10.3390/ijms222312740
• Vanderheyden WM, Fang B, Flores CC, Jager J, Gerstner JR. The transcriptional repressor Rev-erbα regulates circadian expression of the astrocyte Fabp7 mRNA.
Curr Res Neurobiol. 2021;2:100009. Epub 2021 Mar 23. doi: 10.1016/j.crneur.2021.100009
• Davis CJ, Gerstner JR, Vanderheyden WM. Single prolonged stress blocks sleep homeostasis and pre-trauma sleep deprivation does not exacerbate the severity of trauma-induced fear-associated memory impairments. PLoS One. 2021 Jan 6;16(1):e0243743. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243743
• Re CJ, Batterman AI, Gerstner JR, Buono RJ, Ferraro TN. The Molecular Genetic Interaction Between Circadian Rhythms and Susceptibility to Seizures and Epilepsy. Front Neurol. 2020 Jun 23;11:520. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2020.00520
• Gerstner JR, Paschos GK. Circadian expression of Fabp7 mRNA is disrupted in Bmal1 KO mice. Mol Brain. 2020 Feb 24;13(1):26. doi: 10.1186/s13041-020-00568-7
• Vanderheyden WM, Van Dongen HPA, Frank MG, Gerstner JR. Sleep pressure regulates mushroom body neural-glial interactions in Drosophila. Matters Select, 2019 Mar 22 doi: 10.19185/matters.201903000008
• Vanderheyden WM, Goodman AG, Taylor RH, Frank MG, Van Dongen HPA, Gerstner JR. Astrocyte expression of the Drosophila TNF-alpha homologue, Eiger, regulates sleep in flies.
PLoS Genet. 2018 Oct 31;14(10):e1007724. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007724
• Vanderheyden WM, Lim MM, Musiek ES, Gerstner JR. Alzheimer’s Disease and Sleep-Wake Disturbances: Amyloid, Astrocytes, and Animal Models. J Neurosci. 2018 Mar 21;38(12):2901-2910. doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1135-17.2017
• Gerstner JR, Koberstein JN, Watson AJ, Zapero N, Risso D, Speed TP, Frank MG, Peixoto L. Removal of unwanted variation reveals novel patterns of gene expression linked to sleep homeostasis in murine cortex. BMC Genomics. 2016 Oct 25;17(Suppl 8):727 doi.org/10.1186/s12864-016-3065-8
• Gerstner JR, Perron IJ, Riedy SM, Yoshikawa T, Kadotani H, Owada Y, Van Dongen HPA, Galante RJ, Dickinson K, Yin JCP, Pack AI, Frank MG. Normal sleep requires the astrocyte brain-type fatty acid binding protein FABP7. Science Advances. 2017 Apr 5;3(4):e1602663. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1602663
• Gerstner JR, Lenz O, Vanderheyden WM, Chan MT, Pfeiffenberger C, Pack AI. Amyloid-β induces sleep fragmentation that is rescued by fatty acid binding proteins in Drosophila. J Neurosci Res. 2016 Jun 19. doi: 10.1002/jnr.23778
• Gerstner, JR, Smith, G, Lenz, O, Perron IJ, Buono RJ, Ferraro, TN. BMAL1 controls the diurnal rhythm and set point for electrical seizure threshold in mice. Front Syst Neurosci. 2014 Jun 26; 8:121. doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00121
• Lim, MM, Gerstner, JR, Holtzman, DM. The sleep–wake cycle and Alzheimer’s disease: what do we know? Neurodegenerative disease management 4 (5), 351-362 doi.org/10.2217/nmt.14.33
• Vanderheyden, WM, Gerstner, JR, Tanenhaus, A, Yin, JCP, Shaw, PJ. ERK Phosphorylation Regulates Sleep and Plasticity in Drosophila. PLoS One 2013 Nov 14;8(11):e81554. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0081554
• Grandner, MA, Jackson, N, Gerstner, JR, Knutson, KL. Sleep symptoms associated with intake of specific dietary nutrients. J Sleep Res. 2013 Sep 2 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jsr.12084
• Tubon, TC, Zhang, J, Friedman, E, Jin, H, Gonzalez, ED, Zhou, H, Drier, D, Gerstner, JR, Paulson, E, Fropf, R, and Yin, JCP. dCREB2-mediated Enhancement of Memory Formation. J Neurosci. 2013 Apr 24;33(17):7475-87  doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4387-12.2013
• Gerstner, JR. On the evolution of memory: A time for clocks. Front Mol Neurosci. 2012;5:23. doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2012.00023
• Gerstner, JR, Vanderheyden,WM, LaVaute, TM, Westmark, CJ, Rouhana, L, Pack, AI, Wickens, M, Landry, CF. Time-of-day regulates subcellular trafficking, tripartite synaptic localization and polyadenylation of the astrocytic Fabp7 mRNA. J Neurosci. 2012 Jan 25;32(4):1383-94. doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3228-11.2012
• Gerstner, JR, Vanderheyden, WM, Shaw, PJ, Landry, CF, and Yin, JCP. Cytoplasmic to nuclear localization of fatty-acid binding protein correlates with specific forms of long-term memory inDrosophila. Commun & Integr Biol 2011. doi.org/10.4161/cib.16927
• Gerstner, JR, Vander Heyden, WM, Shaw, PJ, Landry, CF, and Yin, JCP. Fatty-acid binding proteins modulate sleep and enhance long-term memory consolidation in Drosophila. PLoS One. 2011 Jan 27;6(1) doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015890
• Gerstner, JR, Yin JC. Circadian rhythms and memory formation. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2010 Aug;11(8):577-88 nature.com/articles/nrn2881
• Gerstner, JR, Lyons LC, Wright KP Jr, Loh DH, Rawashdeh O, Eckel-Mahan KL, Roman GW. Cycling behavior and memory formation. J Neurosci. 2009 Oct 14;29(41):12824-30 doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3353-09.2009
• Gerstner, JR, Bremer QZ, Vander Heyden WM, Lavaute TM, Yin JC, Landry CF. Brain Fatty Acid binding protein (fabp7) is diurnally regulated in astrocytes and hippocampal granule cell precursors in adult rodent brain. PLoS One. 2008 Feb 20;3(2):e1631. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0001631

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