My research focusses on developing an experimental approach to neurobiology based on the comprehensive identification and manipulation of individual cell types and circuits. My group at the HHMI Janelia Research Campus is using the tools and methods we develop to study the neuronal circuits in Drosophila that underlie visual perception, sensory integration and aggression. We have recently extended our research to study the distribution and function of individual proteins and molecular machines that play key roles in neuronal cell biology, such as electrical synapses and the dense core vesicles that secrete neuropeptides.
With Greg Jefferis’s group, we are working as part of a large international collaboration, to determine the complete wiring diagram – or connectome – of the adult Drosophila nervous system and to use that wiring diagram to gain insights into how the brain controls behaviour. We are also developing methods that use expansion microscopy to map the location of individual proteins within neurons.