Dr. Peter Vanderlish has been conducting research on synaptic connections and the molecular biology underlying the function of synapses since his graduate work at the University of California, Irvine. During that time, his work helped establish that long-term potentiation (LTP) occurred post-synaptically, that is in more mature dendritic spines. He has been credited with establishing that integrins play a key role as part of the extra cellular matrix changes that provide durable restructuring of synapses. 

In recent years, he has focused on dendritic spines and synaptic connections in Fragile X syndrome, studying the molecular, synaptic and neural networks to correlate them with the chronic anxiety and social avoidance behaviors of patients with fragile X. Dr. Vanderklish has been an Associate Professor in Neuroscience at The Scripps Research Institute and a Visiting Professor in Anatomy and Neurobiology at UC Irvine.