Professor Cohen's research focuses on developing and applying new physical tools to study molecules, cells, and organisms. His research group invents new tools to probe biological structures and uses them to make new measurements. They combine protein engineering, lasers, nanofabrication, microfluidics, electronics, biochemistry, and computers to generate data; and apply statistics and physical modeling to understand the data. Current projects include: development of fluorescent voltage-indicating proteins for all-optical electrophysiology; disease modeling in human induced pluripotent stem cells; studies on the nanomechanical properties of DNA; and development of techniques that combine image processing and optogenetics for functional screens in mammalian cells. Learn more >>

Professor Dulac's research group uses molecular, genetic and electrophysiological techniques to explore the molecular and neuronal basis of innate social behaviors in the mouse. They are pursuing several projects at the molecular, cellular and systems levels in order to investigate the architecture and functional logic of neuronal circuits underlying social behaviors. They also explore the phenomenon of genomic imprinting in the brain, and the role of this mode of epigenetic modification in brain development and adult brain function. Genomic imprinting results in preferential expression of the paternally, or the maternally inherited allele of certain genes.  Learn more >>

Professor Garner's group focuses on the self-organization of shape inside small organisms - understanding how small collections of proteins, each operating at local length scales, work together to build and read out long range space: make cells grow into defined shapes, divide them in half, or segregate cargo within them. To do this they employ a combination of high-resolution microscopy, single molecule tracking, biochemistry, genetics, and computational approaches. Together, this allows them to dissect the mechanisms underlying these spatial systems. These studies, done both in bacteria and archaea, hope to reveal the different ways biology can build long range order, and may reveal new ways to inhibit bacterial growth and division. Learn more >>

Professor Lichtman's research focuses on the study of neural connectivity and how it changes as animals develop and age. With his colleagues he has developed a number of tools that permit synaptic level analysis of neural connections. These include activity dependent uptake of fluorescent dyes, transgenic approaches to label individual nerve cells, and “combinatoric” methods (e.g., DiOlistics, Brainbow, and NPS) to label many nerve cells in the same tissue. In addition, he has helped develop automated electron microscopy approaches for large scale neural circuit reconstruction. These connectomic methods seek to make it routine to acquire neural circuit data in any nervous system. The central focus of his work is to describe the ways in which developing nervous systems change to accommodate information that is acquired by experience.  Learn more >>

Professor Murthy's research group is interested in understanding the neural and algorithmic basis of odor-guided behaviors in terrestrial animals. To this end, they have developed behavioral tasks in mice using stimuli and situations that approximate natural settings, while allowing electrophysiological recordings, high-resolution optical imaging and optogenetic manipulation. They record neural activity in behaving mice using electro- or opto-physiological methods and relate them to behavioral features, and attempt to discern the computational algorithms underlying these behaviors. Where possible, they also examine the neural circuits to understand how their architecture gives rise to the neural activity observed in behaving animals. Finally, they are also interested in understanding how neural circuits in the olfactory system are modified by behavioral state, experience and in disease. Learn more >>

Professor Needleman's laboratory combines physics and cell biology to study self-organizing subcellular structures. Their long term goals are to uncover general principles which govern these nonequilibrium systems and to develop predictive theories of cellular organization and behavior. Their approach is to study complex biological systems using a close interplay between quantitative experiments and theory, developing new methods to produce the data they need. They are bridging the molecular scales, of nanometers and milliseconds, and the cellular scales, of microns and minutes, by investigating collective mechanics and energetics in spindles. They also study how these collective properties vary over evolution and due to non-genetic factors: to understand the process that shape variations in spindles and to use these variations to obtain increased mechanistic insights. In recent work, they have expanded to study embryology, and basic and applied issues related to in vitro fertilization Learn more >>

Professor Sabatini's laboratory seeks to uncover the mechanisms of synapse and circuit plasticity that permit new behaviors to be learned and refined. They are interested in the developmental changes that occur after birth that make learning possible as well as in the circuit changes that are triggered by the process of learning.  Lastly, they examine how perturbations of these processes contribute to human neuropsychiatric disorders such as Tuberous Sclerosis Complex and Parkinson’s Disease. Learn more >>

Professor Xie's research group works at the interface of several disciplines, striving to develop new physical and chemical tools to solve compelling biological problems. They have made major contributions to the emergence of the field of single-molecule biophysical chemistry and its application to biology, including the development of coherent Raman scattering microscopy and single cell whole genome sequencing. Learn more >>