Do Lab
F. M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital
Director: Michael Tri H. Do, PhD
Our lab asks how light drives functions that are as diverse as circadian regulation and perception. We pose this question for different species to learn how visual mechanisms are tailored to distinct needs. Our research spans organizational levels and time scales, from molecules to circuits and from milliseconds to hours. We focus on the retina and brain, relying primarily on electrophysiological and optical techniques applied in vitro and in vivo.
Visual performance is remarkable. In cases of severe blindness where awareness of light is lost, illumination can still synchronize the circadian clock with the solar day. What are the origins of this robustness? Perception can be elicited by a small number of photons, yet continues when light has intensified by many orders of magnitude. How is this dynamic range established?
Such questions of system function apply throughout biology. Posing them in the visual system is advantageous because the input, light, is precisely controllable and the outputs, such as the pattern of impulses sent from the eye to the brain, are often given to quantification. Thus, the intervening operations and their suitability to the organism can be made especially clear.
Group Members
Faculty
Trainees
- Gregory Bryman
- Andreas Liu
- Philippe Morquette
- Alan Emanuel (former; was supported by the DSM T32)
- Elliott Milner (former)
Administrative Contact
Amy Weinberg
amy.weinberg@childrens.harvard.edu
617-919-2368
Address
Center for Life Science 12
3 Blackfan Circle
Boston, MA 02115