Gilad Barnea, Ph.D.

Research

Our laboratory studies how the mammalian brain processes olfactory information and translates it into behavioral outputs. We are developing a new method for transsynaptic labeling of neural circuits combining molecular biology and mouse genetics. This method will enable us to map and characterize the neural circuits that the brain uses to process olfactory information. We also study the role of odorant receptors in the wiring of olfactory circuits. Finally, we are developing a molecular method to selectively record the activation of particular dopamine receptor subtypes in mice.

As an Innovation Fund investigator, Barnea’s lab is teaming with the lab of Ben Z. Stanger, M.D., Ph.D., in hopes of developing novel means of tracking cancer cells as they spread. Barnea has created a technology that maps cellular connections in the nervous system, and Stanger is keen to use the technology to track how tumors spread. The pair aims to expand the utility of this unique tracking tool to trace a cancer cell’s movement and contact with other cells—work that could help to better define how and when metastatic disease takes hold.