Shenfeng Qiu, MD, PhD, is an assistant professor in the department of Basic Medical Sciences at the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix. His research is on arguably the most complicated machinery — the human brain — and it all boils down to one thing: how the brain is formed and what goes awry in neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia. “Our brain is comprised of billions of neurons organized into different cells, circuits, regions — each one with a different function.” It is uto Dr. Qiu to identify how irregularities imposed by faulty genetic programs, often with the interplay of environmental factors, in those circuits may contribute to brain disease.