The mammalian brain is one of the most exquisitely complex networks in the known universe, and its precise connectivity is established through a convergence of genetic and environmental influences (i.e. nature and nurture, respectively). While many of the genetic factors that drive early stages of embryonic brain development are known, we still lack a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the mechanisms through which an organism’s interactions with the world around it – in the form of sensory experience – sculpt neural circuits in the developing brain.

Our laboratory seeks to illuminate the fundamental mechanisms through which sensory experience shapes the connectivity and function of the brain. Toward this end, we place a unique focus on the ways in which environmental cues impinge upon the immune system to drive this process.

We study two classes of immune signals in this context: those deriving from the brain’s resident immune cells, microglia, and those deriving from the remarkable diversity of immune cells in the periphery. We apply a multidisciplinary research strategy to achieve this goal, combining structural and functional techniques (e.g. two-photon live imaging, electrophysiology) with genomics approaches (e.g. single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, chromatin accessibility profiling, and transcription factor-binding assays) to define the nature and functions of neuro-immune interactions in the brain. By applying these strategies to the mouse visual system and the human brain, we seek to expand the field of neuroimmunology into exciting new frontiers and to design novel therapeutic approaches for treating complex disorders of the nervous system.