William Tyler, Ph.D.

Dr. William Tyler is a Program Director in the Neurogenetics cluster at NINDS. Bill manages a portfolio of research grants focused on the biology of glia, oligodendrocyte and Schwann cell development and myelination, neuron-glia interactions, basic astrocyte biology, axon guidance, and neuronal migration. He completed his Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology at the Penn State College of Medicine where his thesis work focused on identifying cell signaling pathways that promote oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination. After postdoctoral training, Dr. Tyler joined the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at the Boston University School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor, and more recently was a faculty member in the Center for Neuroscience Research at Children's National Medical Center. There, he continued work to characterize myelin defects in Down Syndrome and, in parallel, investigated developmental mechanisms that generate neocortical excitatory neuron diversity. He joined NINDS as a Health Program Specialist in the Neural Environment Cluster in June of 2022. Bill also serves as the NINDS representative to the High-Risk, High-Reward working group, a trans-NIH team that oversees the development, administration, communication, and assessment of the HRHR program.