New neurons are born throughout life in two distinct areas of the mammalian brain, the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventricles and the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG). Adult neurogenesis has been implicated in tissue homeostasis, physiologic brain function, and is also associated with a number of neuro‐psychiatric diseases. However, the knowledge regarding the mechanisms underlying life‐long neurogenesis remains scant. The research in our lab aims to characterize and understand multiple aspects of adult neurogenesis including mechanisms underlying stem cell diversity (using unbiased gene expression analyses of neural stem cells and their progeny), the integration of newborn cells into the preexisting circuitries of the adult brain and the role that Cdk5 plays in these processes, and the potential use of neural stem cells (NSCs) for endogenous brain repair. In addition our laboratory is interested in the significance that adult neurogenesis might contribute to hippocampal function in physiology and disease.