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Current Research:
Neurons are capable of forming complex networks that enable an organism to orchestrate a multitude of different processes simultaneously. For this to occur the nervous system needs to utilize chemical, electrical, and modulatory synapses. I am striving to better understand the latter two, and less understood, parts of this process by studying gap junctions and neuropeptides. To do this I work with the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, an organism with a wealth of genetic tools that are essential for dissecting individual neurons and for visualizing cellular structures. I am currently expanding this toolkit to enable easier visualization of gap junctions and neuropeptides and ultimately to build a biochemical portrait of how they are built, organized, and degraded as well as how they function in a complex nervous system.