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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:

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How does the brain sense an immune response?

Using single cell and spatial transcriptomics, we identify and characterize the cell types and molecular mechanisms required for communication between the immune system and the brain

How does the brain

generate sickness?

Using multiple models for acute or chronic infection we identify the cells and circuits that generate sickness behaviors such as increased pain sensitivity, fatigue, loss of appetite, sleep disturbances, anxiety and depression

What factors influence sickness severity and recovery?

We seek to discover internal and external factors underlying individual differences in sickness severity and recovery time

University of Utah

University of Utah School of Medicine

Neurobiology Department

Biomedical Polymer's Research Building, room 470
20 South 2030 East
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112

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©2022 by Jessica Osterhout

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