Interests

My long-term research interests are with a focus on exploring and understanding conserved developmental pathways and how alterations in these pathways affect human health. In my previous study, by using Drosophila as a model organism, I discovered the link between ER-mitochondrial calcium communication and lipogenesis, which provided new insights into the pathogenesis of human Congenital Generalized Lipodystrophy Type 2. In the Desplan Lab, I am working on the amazing ant species Harpegnathos in which adult workers maintain great adult plasticity. The behavior, metabolism, lack of reproductive development and short lifespan of workers are all responsive to queen pheromones. When the queen is deprived from a colony, some of the workers undertake antennal dueling and the winners stop nursing or foraging and become reproductive pseudo-queens (Gamergates) that suppress the queen-attributes of nestmates. Gamergates produce eggs, have reduced fat stores and a dramatically extended lifespan. I am focusing on the hemolymph, the insect open circulatory system, and trying to understand the connections among the different biological processes and the mechanisms underlying the epigenetics of caste switching and extended lifespan.