Our lab is broadly interested in how brain and body talk to each other in health and disease and which physiological and behavioral adaptations arise from this communication. We are particularly curious about the influence of environmental factors such as the diet, social bonds, infectious pathogens or xenobiotics on brain-body communication, and which therapeutic strategies can be inferred from understanding this biology. 

The scientific approach of our group is primarily hypothesis driven. We seek to ask innovative and simple questions, followed by systematically addressing these using state-of-the art experimental approaches. Our philosophy builds on two major premises: first, understanding physiology is a prerequisite for making sense of pathology and second, studying the body as a holistic system, rather than focusing on individual organs is necessary for identification of innovative therapeutic targets. We believe that this is the case because most modern diseases for which we seek cures for are driven by systemic, rather than tissue-intrinsic factors. Our aspiration is to pursue highly interdisciplinary projects spanning a range of fields including metabolism research, behavioral biology, neurosciences, evolutionary biology, comparative physiology, immunology, oncology and biochemistry. Due to our clinical background, we have access to human specimens, which we use to validate our experimental observations wherever possible. 

Our work is thus situated at the intersection of basic science and medicine, seeking to translate insights from physiology into pharmacological or dietary interventions to sustain and/or restore health. We are a highly collaborative group with a deep appreciation for different perspectives from various fields. Come do science with us!