Chuntao Dan

Scientists at Janelia work together in multidisciplinary teams to solve challenging biological problems that are difficult to address in other research settings.

Many lab spaces at Janelia feature modular designs and natural light.

Credit: Brad Feinknopf

Occupying 689 wooded acres along the Potomac River, Janelia Farm provides a variety of services and facilities to support its diverse community of scientists and staff—inside and outside the lab.

A view of the Janelia Farm Research Campus at dusk.

Credit: Brad Feinknopf

The Janelia Farm model frees scientists of constraints commonly found in other research environments, providing access to world-class resources and a talented support staff.

Graduate scholar John Tuthill prepares a Drosophila specimen for imaging.

Credit: James Kegley

In addition to our resident scientists and fellows, we offer visiting scientists, graduate, and undergraduate candidates a range of scientific programs.

Graduate scholar Arbora Resulaj (left) and her mentor, Janelia Emeritus Fellow Dmitry Rinberg (right).

Credit: James Kegley

Janelia Farm regularly hosts scientific meetings, ranging from workshops to intensive, specialized conferences. See what's coming up and visit the archive of past events.

Janelia's large auditorium seats 250 people.

Credit: Matt Staley

Janelia provides outstanding employment opportunities, at all levels.

Credit: James Kegley

Many tools developed in Janelia Farm labs are made freely available to outside researchers, while others are taking shape through collaborations with industry, academia, and government.

A virtual arena for the study of flight in insects.

Credit: James Kegley

Janelia’s sense of community comes from a core belief that people of diverse disciplines and backgrounds can accomplish great things when working with a common purpose.

Research specialist Trevor Wardill (left) and group leader Vivek Jayaraman (right).

Credit: James Kegley

Jayaraman Lab

Research Specialist

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Born in a family of space engineers, Chuntao was initially drawn to cosmology. Thinking it would be quite difficult to top Newton and Einstein, he found a new calling in the mysteries of life and came to the States to study the molecular machinery and network making cells work. Inspired by Francis Crick's book, Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul, Chuntao jumped to neuroscience and decided to explore how neural circuits control behavior in a genetically tractable and simple model system with a rich repertoire of behavioral paradigms. He zeroed in on Drosophila and developed a system to conduct large-scale quantitative examination of neural activity in the brains of head-fixed near-intact adult Drosophila. Currently he is combining neural imaging with molecular genetics and quantitative behavioral tracking to investigate how the brain makes complex cognitive decisions to direct high-level behavior on-the-fly.

B.S., Peking University, Beijing, China (1995)
Ph.D., Columbia University, New York (2002)