The rotation of the Earth subjects terrestrial organisms to daily light/dark cycles. To keep in sync with these geophysical oscillations, a molecular clock anticipates them in the form of a biological timekeeper that organizes behavior, physiology, and metabolism as a function of time of day. This circadian (from Latin circa [about] + dia [day]) clock is a prediction mechanism that synchronizes internal organismal state with the external environment.  While the central clock resides in the brain, all our cells have circadian clocks. Disruption of circadian rhythms is extraordinarily common in modern society and has been linked with neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric disease. Our research seeks to understand the fundamental relationships between the circadian clock and diseases of the developing brain.

Our goals are to understand the rhythmic organization of cellular function in health and disease so that we might use temporal information - or its disruption - to identify biomarkers, therapeutics, and fundamental understanding.

Some active projects include:

• investigating circadian clocks in synaptic function and dysfunction

• defining the signaling logic regulating rhythms of proteostasis in neural and non-neural systems

• molecular mechanisms linking clocks to sleep homeostasis

• defining the molecular and biochemical logic of circadian resilience

We utilize and develop animal models, live cell imaging, behavioral, and biochemistry to address fundamental questions of circadian timing, translation, and neurological function with our gaze focused on diseases of the nervous system.