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Areas of interest
The immune system can harness the brain to alter physiology and behavior. Our goal is to uncover how the immune system and brain work together during sickness and in health. We focus on these 3 critical questions:
How does the brain know the body is sick?
Using single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, we identify the cells and molecular signals that communicate immune activity to the brain
How does the brain orchestrate sickness?
Using models of acute and chronic inflammation, we identify the neural circuits that coordinate sickness responses, including pain hypersensitivity, fatigue, appetite loss, sleep disruption, and anxiety or depression-like symptoms.
What shapes sickness severity and recovery?
We investigate how the brain regulates the severity and duration of sickness, and why these responses vary across individuals and disease states.
Funding sources
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