Biological Science Faculty Member

Assistant Professor
Ph.D., The University of Tokyo, 2019
Graduate Faculty Status

Research and Professional Interests:

Our lab aims to understand how the neuronal circuits control sensory-guided behavior across animal species. We focus on fruit fly Drosophila, a powerful model organism suitable to study fundamental principles of neural structure, function, and behavior. We have been working on olfactory circuits and behavior by using a comparative approach. Specifically, we have developed neurogenetic tools in Drosophila sechellia – a closely-related species to the long-standing model organism Drosophila melanogaster but has adapted to a distinct ecological niche – to understand what features of the brain has changed over millions of years and how it changed the behavior.  We aim to expand his analysis to central brain neurons and non-neuronal cells by leveraging comparative and functional resources, such as natural genetic variations, calcium imaging, optogenetics, and virtual reality assays.

The main questions to be pursued in the lab are the following:

• How does peripheral composition affect olfactory coding and behavior?
• How do dietary shifts and their associated nutritional changes impact brain function and behavior?
• How do changes in non-neuronal cells affect brain function and behavior?