When animals get an infection, they undergo a number of behavioral and physiologic changes – they lose their appetite, develop a fever, feel lethargic, and have diminished interest in social interaction. While infections are sensed by the immune system, these behavioral changes are generated by the brain. My work aims to link these two complex physiologic systems to define how the immune system communicates with the brain to change animal behavior during infection.

What are the big questions driving your research?
What are the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which the immune system communicates with the brain during infection? How does an animal’s environment shape the behavioral response to infection?

What drew you to this area of neuroscience?
During my PhD in immunology, I discovered that the immune system controls nutrient uptake in the intestine to help animals adapt to different diets. A close colleague and friend of mine in the lab had recently discovered that immune cells influence food preference during food allergy. We wrote a review article together on how the immune system influences physiological and behavioral responses to food, and this got me interested in studying other ways the immune system can influence behavior to help animals adapt to different environmental challenges.

What is the first experiment you remember doing?
When I was an undergraduate at Harvard I worked in the lab of Eric Rubin at the Harvard School of Public Health, where we were interested in understanding how Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes disease. My first experiment in the lab (which took close to a year to perform!) involved generating mutant strains of mycobacteria that lacked genes that were involved in virulence in order to understand their function. Generating genetic mutants in mycobacteria is notoriously challenging and this project gave me the first taste of how patient and persistent one has to be in order to be successful in research.

What are your hopes for the future?
I hope to run an independent research laboratory that bridges immunology and neuroscience. I want to inspire younger scientists from diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in research. I have always been fascinated by biology, and I view a career in academia as a lifelong commitment to learning and discovery about the natural world.